Dragon Riders?
by Burnt Out Souls
Summary: A new era of the Dragon Riders has risen to its feet. Can five teenagers and five dragons progress from saving a city to saving the world? A bit of BBxRae
1. Finding Dragons

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra) 

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**Summary**:

When the Titans are granted dragons, are they really up to the task? The new era of Dragon Riders has arrived, but can five simple-but powerful-teenagers and five courageous dragons be able to save the world from destruction? And when a dragon is taken down with its Rider, how do the others react; will they continue on to save the world, or help their friends?

The trust they place in each other is put to the test. Can they allow the boundries between all of them to die in order to save the world from devastation? A little BBxRae.

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Raven Roth glanced down to see an old man tugging ever so gently at the bottom of her cloak. She swallowed, turning her full body around to the man and crouching down to his height. Before she could say anything, the man had withdrawn five oddly coloured stones from a bag he held in his hand. Without a word, he had pushed each one into the Goth's hands, forcing her to hold them as she gawked slightly at the man.

"Please," he croaked, his small, blue eyes pleading. "Please, please take these."

Just as she parted her lips to speak, the man had turned and fled into the crowd, leaving Raven stooped down, holding five odd stones. Her violet eyes glanced down at each one in turn; shrugging, she rose, walking away as she headed back to the tower. There she would be eligible to get a much better look at these stones.

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A hand propping up her chin, her legs crossed over as she sat on the sofa, she sat silently in the empty common room, regarding the five stones she had placed on the table with interest. Reaching out testily to touch the black one closest to her, she jumped when Beast Boy ran into the common room to do what he normally did. She retracted her hand suddenly, looking away from the stones as if she didn't even know they were there as she ignored the green changeling.

"What's with the stones?" he inquired, staring down at them as he slowed his pace to walk up to them.

She glared at him, but she didn't utter a single word, refusing to even cast a glance at the stones assembled before her.

"HELLO!" Beast Boy called, knocking on Raven's head with his knuckles.

She narrowed her eyes and his feet were enveloped in a black aura as he was sent over the back of the couch.

Groaning, he rose groggily.

"All right, sorry, dude, but what _are _those stones doing in here?" he squeaked, rubbing his butt as he stared at them again. "And where did you get them?"

"For your information, an old man gave them to me," she snapped. "And I don't know why he gave them to me anyways. He just shoved them to me and disappeared."

He walked up to the sofa again, flopping down right beside her, eyeing the stones. He rapped on one with his knuckles and a hollow sound filled the air. He pulled his hand back and the sound came to a close.

"Ya sure they're rocks?" he questioned, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, but he wasn't really thinking; he never truly thought anyways.

"What else would they be? Birds?" she sneered sarcastically, reaching out to the black one again.

She picked it up and held it in her hands as she stared at it calmly. The hollow sound filled the room again.

"Cut it out, BB," Raven hissed, staring deeper at the stone.

He held up his hands, but the hollow sound continued as he whined: "I didn't do anything!"

The black stone quivered, before a sound like a high-pitched wail erupted from it. The changeling cocked his head as he regarded the object as it trembled more, the sound growing louder steadily. It stopped and the rock was still; something cracked. Raven stared at the rock in awe as cracks began to form along it.

"You broke it!" Beast Boy squeaked, grinning.

"Shut up," she snarled and he flinched at her tone.

She moved the rock around, but a growl stopped her. The stone broke apart to reveal a small creature with wings that had a hooked claw at the top. They seemed like bat wings as the creature flapped them, growling low at Beast Boy. Golden horns on its head seemed to big and at the tip of its tail was what appeared to be something similar to a spear. It was metal, sharp and hard. Its talons were gentle in her pale grey hands and its red eyes glared at Beast Boy before they rested on Raven. As it shifted to rise on its hind legs, the ivory spikes that ran from the back of its head to its tail gleamed.

It had large fangs protruding from its small jaws and it parted them to reveal sharp teeth. Fish-like scales ran along its underbelly and its black scales matched the stone perfectly. Except it wasn't a stone…it was an egg.

"Sweet! It's a dragon! I didn't know they existed…except-that is-Malchior," Beast Boy commented.

"Well, if this is a dragon egg, then I guess the rest are dragon eggs as well," the girl said with a sigh.

"Can I touch it!" the changeling yelped joyously, but before she could reply, he had poked it gently on the shoulder.

It hissed a warning, but before he could react, it had slammed its metal-like tail tip hard against his gloved hand. Whimpering, he retracted his hand. The tail-although the dragon had not hit it hard-had sliced through the glove and cut his hand. And thankfully, it wasn't deep, although it did sting and Raven couldn't help but giggle at the dragon.

"Owww!" he complained, glaring at his hand. "That thing's evil!"

The baby dragon hissed again, flattening its ears and he wriggled farther away. She smirked slightly, and allowed a blue aura to coat her hands. She reached over, allowing her hands to move just above his hand. He sighed as the sting began to leave and the cut closed itself.

"Thanks," he said, then stared at the eggs. "I want a dragon two!"

"You can't even keep your own room clean; how do you expect to take care of a dragon? Besides, don't you know they're _carnivores _and eat _meat?"_ she taunted, focusing on each egg in turn.

"Hey, I'll train it to eat tofu, okay dude?" he answered with a smirk: "And how hard can it be?"

He scooped up all the eggs at once, watching each one. When nothing happened, he put them all down, picking them up one at a time. He picked up the green one second, shaking it near his ear. It jumped out of his hands, making him jump as well, falling over the back of the sofa and disappearing as Raven shook her head in disgust at the boy.

Without making a noise though, the egg cracked open to reveal a green dragon that landed calmly on the sofa. It croaked gently and Beast Boy peeked over the top of the sofa, then jumped over, landing almost on top of the poor dragon whom squealed in alarm.

It beat its wings, which were like branches with large leaves attached. It had no horns, just antennae that seemed to be like a butterfly that hung low instead of high. Vines wrapped themselves around each of its legs and it had a vine for a tail, much unlike the black dragon. Its green eyes stared into Beast Boy's emerald ones before it pounced into his lap and curled up.

"Umm…how do we tell if it's a dude, or a dudette?" he asked and Raven shook her head yet again.

"How do you think?"

"I am a male," a voice sounded calmly, although there was an icy bitterness to it.

Raven and Beast Boy both stared wide-eyed at the dragon held in Raven's hands as it lowered itself down to all fours.

"Dude, did it just _talk?" _Beast Boy breathed, amazed.

"Obviously," the dragon hissed, glaring at him.

"I am, as you would say, a 'dude' as well," the green dragon chimed in.

"Do you have a name?" the green boy asked excitedly at the dragon perched in his lap.

"Why would we? We were just born, genius. Doesn't really take anyone with a great intelligence to know that, changeling. Also, you two are the beginning of a new era with us," Raven's dragon spoke.

"Um, excuse me?" Beast Boy said, staring at both.

"We are dragons, you are our riders. You are the new dragon riders!" the green dragon chattered excitedly.

"I've heard of them in ancient legends," Raven commented dryly. "Now, shall we name you both?"

"Yes, I do believe names are in order…" the black dragon said, staring at the female.

"Raven."

"I'm Beast Boy!" the boy introduced himself.

"Good to meet you, Raven," the black and green dragons both said, but the green dragon added in: "And Beast Boy!"

"So, let me think here. You both have elements in which you can wield at your own mercy, correct?" Raven inquired thoughtfully.

"Yes. I am a dragon of darkness. He is a dragon of earth."

"Then how about you are Zarathustra, meaning darkness?" the Goth suggested.

"Yes, Zarathustra is a great name; excellent choice, my rider," Zarathustra said.

"How about me, BB?" the green dragon chirped hopefully.

"Umm…Raven?" he muttered, glancing sideways at the girl.

"It is your choice."

"How do you say hospitality in Azarath?"

"You want an Azarath name like Zarathustra? Xenos."

"Then how about Xenos?!"

"I thank you for naming me Xenos, BB," Xenos answered.

"You catch on fast!" Beast Boy complimented his dragon, rubbing his head and receiving a purr.

"Everyone catches on fast compared to you," Zarathustra sneered and Raven could only giggle as Beast Boy glared at the baby dragon, but then recoiled.


	2. Come On

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: After receiving five oddly coloured stones, Raven brings them back to the tower. The most peculiar thing occurs: the stone hatches to reveal a dragon! The sour dragon has no taste for Beast Boy's idioticy and even though after another egg is hatched because of the changeling, it makes him no kinder. Will the dragons learn to trust each other as well as all the Riders without harming each other?

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"Friend Raven, I have been looking _everywhere_ for you! I was hoping we could travel to the mall of shopping, or do the painting of the toes or-eeep!" she squeaked, pointing a finger at the two dragons that were staring at her intently. "What are those and why do you hold them so?!"

"Calm down, Star, they're only baby dragons. Chill, it's no big deal," Beast Boy commented, rising while he held Xenos to his chest, but the dragon clambered onto his shoulder.

"Why are there dragons in the tower?" she inquired confused, looking from the Goth to the changeling.

"I was given dragon eggs and here we are now," Raven commented dryly, shrugging as she rose lazily.

Groggily, Zarathustra pounced onto the table, flapping his small wings along the way. He landed, turning to the alien as he prowled after the pale girl. Beast Boy nodded to the dragon perched on his shoulder and it squawked gently.

"Hello; I do believe your name was Star? I am Xenos, Beast Boy's dragon," the earth dragon said.

"Uh, dude, her full name's Starfire," Beast Boy whispered to the dragon, who merely shrugged in response, muttering: "I heard you say her name was Star, BB."

"Yes, Star, is-as you would say-my name of nick," she answered, grinning at the dragons, no longer afraid.

"Do you mean nickname?" Zarathustra growled as he lunged for Beast Boy, grabbed onto his clothes and sat himself on his head.

"Hey, get off of my head dude!" the green changeling protested, but shut up fast when the dragon growled.

"Oh, yes, nickname," the alien said with a blush.

"I am Zarathustra and as you must know already-if you are not dense like Beast Boy here-I happen to be Raven's dragon. Raven is my Rider, as Beast Boy is Xenos's," he spoke with an icy tone, but he snarled when the alien jerked him from where he sat into a tight hug.

"Uh, Star, you might not want to do that," Raven cautioned. "He doesn't like BB as it is. You don't want to get on his bad side, unless you wish pain."

"Hehe," was all the changeling could reply, pulling nervously at his collar as the black dragon was released.

"May I have a dragon?" Starfire chattered excitedly, glancing around, but saw no other dragons and her face fell. "I have Silkie, whom I take much care of."

"Sure, just grab an egg and see if it hatches!" Beast Boy exclaimed and a smile lit upon the alien's face again, but fell.

"Egg? Are we to eat them? Besides, I see no eggs in here," she murmured.

"No, you don't eat them and they're over there on the table," the Goth said with a shrug.

"Are you sure they are not-"

"No, they're not stones," Beast Boy answered calmly. "I thought they were stones at first."

Nodding eagerly, she rushed over to the eggs. She picked up the yellow one, but nothing occurred.

"Why does it not hatch?" she asked: "Am I to break it?"

"No, don't break it. That's probably not your dragon. Try the blue, or red," Xenos suggested hopefully.

Nodding, she put it down, then scooped up the red one. When it didn't hatch, her eyes narrowed and she scowled. She almost threw it down on the table in frustration, but didn't and merely picked up the blue one. A whistle erupted from within the egg and she cried out in alarm, throwing the egg at the window, but a black aura caught it, gently lowering it to the ground safely. It jumped around for a bit, then lay still, silent as they all held their breath.

It trembled again, before it rolled, bumping against the alien's feet before cracks rolled along it.

"Did I do the breaking of the egg?" she cried with concern for the egg, but the Goth shook her head at the alien's stupidity.

A tail lashed out of the egg, although it was quite odd, seeing as though it looked more like a dolphin's tail than anything else. The shell quivered, then broke, revealing a light blue dragon to stand in the remnants. Its bird like wings flapped testily and it jerked up an odd paw. It had only four toes and it had something that appeared to be webbing that joined each toe together. Hair covered its eyes, but it shook its head to reveal its calmness inside of its pupils. The hair ran down its neck, ending at its withers, causing it to have the slight appearance of an equine.

"Yes; thank you for freedom, my Rider," the dragon croaked, trying to get used to the voice it had obtained as it jumped into her lap.

"Tell me, young dragon, how do you know much words and yet you are just born? Especially since you are speaking English," Starfire fumed.

"You may out beat me in age, but my mind-our minds-can easily out rule yours. We have remained within our eggs until our Rider comes; we have been inside those eggs for a long while. We hear words being spoken and we learn many languages as we wait for our Riders," the dragon answered, with the same calmness that burned in its eyes. "Now, Zarathustra and Xenos have names, Starfire, shall you name me now? Oh, I think you need to know first I am indeed female."

"Wow," the green changeling breathed, forcing the Goth to shake her head in disgust.

_Such an idiot, _Raven thought bitterly as she glared at Beast Boy, then turned her attention to her dragon whom had found himself upon her shoulder to get a better look.

"Yes, a name is in order for you. How about Hytimjir't?" she offered and the dragon seemed stunned.

"Hytimerwhat?" she requested once more.

"Hytimjir't, meaning smart-one, in my language," she repeated, grinning.

"She's Tameranian," Raven offered and Hytimjir't mouthed "Oh."

"Yes, I suppose it will fit in," Hytimjir't answered.

"You do not enjoy the name?" the alien questioned, hurt.

"I do, although I do not have the fluent tongue of you to easily speak your language. Hytimejir'te it is," she said.

"Hytimjir't," Starfire corrected sternly.

"Sorry, sorry," Hytimjir't apologized, raising her oddly shape forepaws.

"Shall we tell the others of the dragons?" the alien questioned, well, more so decided.

She floated out of the room, leaving the two teens and three dragons to stand there and wait. She returned, followed by a yawning Cyborg.

"What is this, Star?" he yawned, raising a metallic hand to cover his gaping jaws.

His eye lid was half closed in a lazy form, while the other continued to glow red. She floated forward, ordering him to wait, then came back to him with her hands behind her back. Raven and Beast Boy regarded this, waiting to see their friend's reaction.

"Cy, meet-" she said, moving her hands in front of her to reveal Hytimjir't, who grinned at Cyborg.

Before the alien could say anything more, a large hand had made contact with the small dragon, sending her flying towards the window yet again with a squawk of alarm. The alien's eyes grew wide as she looked to the side to see her dragon hurtling at a fast speed towards the window. Before the dragon made contact though, the same black aura lowered her to the ground. Shaking her head, she glowered at the half-robot man, her icy blue eyes no longer calm as she stalked angrily towards them.

"No good cyborg," she hissed between clenched teeth.

"Yo, how can that thing talk and is it doing in my tower!" Cyborg called, narrowing his eye at the dragon whom had lurched herself off the ground to land in the girl's hands.

"You will not cause more harm to my Hytimjir't," she scolded.

"Hytimerwhat?" he asked, confused as he returned the glare to the water dragon.

"It's Hytimjir't," she hissed. "I thought you were supposed to be smart. All dragons can talk; doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"I mean, that green bean figured it out by his self," Zarathustra sneered, pouncing onto Star's left shoulder, joined by Xenos who had planted himself on her other shoulder.

"Hey, he's not stupid; he does have a brain you know," Xenos defended his Rider, getting a nod of approval from him.

"What? Three dragons… In my tower!" Cyborg screeched.

"Calm down, Cyborg. They're ours; Zarathustra is mine-he's the black dragon that yields darkness-Xenos is Beast Boy's-he's the green dragon that controls earth-and as you have noted, Starfire owns Hytimjir't-the blue dragon, which I believe has power over water," Raven soothed, striding over confidently to take Zarathustra back.

Panting, he glared at the black dragon who sneered at him in return. Those red eyes seemed to be mocking him.

"Yes, friend Cyborg, you must have a dragon for yourself! There are two eggs left; one must be yours at least!" spoke an excited Starfire, who placed her dragon on her empty shoulder to pull her friend to the table.

On the way over, Xenos jumped off to land on his Rider's head. He nestled himself comfortably in the mess of green hair.

"Pick an egg; red, or yellow."

Muttering under his breath, he hissed: "God dammit, why do I have to friggin' have all these dragons running amuck in my tower."

Nonetheless, he picked up the yellow egg easily, bouncing it in his right palm. Each time it bounced, it rose higher and higher, yet he put no more force into each push. A wail that had Cyborg clutching his ears sounded before the egg broke. A yellow dragon tumbled to the floor with yet another screaming wail, landing on its back. It clambered up swiftly, shaking the bits of egg from its spikes.

They were nothing compared to Zarathustra's; rounded and easily to hold onto to, not even causing any tingling when they were touched. They weren't the same colour as the dragon of darkness' though. They were golden like the horns that stuck up straight between its ears. The horns between the two dragons were similar, although Zarathustra's were sharper, longer, an ivory colour and his were flat down and not to mention electricity didn't course between the two. Its tail was just like Zarathustra's as well, but there was no spear-like end to it. It was plain and simple.

The yellow dragon wailed again, then climbed up Cyborg's back and perched delicately on his head. It held its head high to the ceiling, snorting softly.

"Well, my Rider," it said softly, lowering its head as he stiffened, straightening. "Shall you name me?"

"Yo, who are you!" he called, trying to see it, but it was in a blind spot. "Get down from there."

"As you wish, Cyborg," it squeaked, lowering down to his shoulder where he could see it. "Now, to answer your question as to who I am: I have no name, for you must name me, but I can tell you one thing. You are my Rider, I am your dragon; together we are strong, united partners together to fight against evil."

"Uh, we already do that."

"I know, but together, we could save the world! Are you going to name me or not; give me a nice name like Xenos, Zarathustra and Hytimjir't. Nothing simple and plain, like Bob, especially not a male name since I am female," she commented with a giggle.

"Well, I would name you 'Lalage,' meaning 'to babble' in Greek, but I'm feeling nice, so how about Laetitia, the Latin word for 'happiness,' since you seem to be quite happy and joyful," he suggested.

"How cruel, Cyborg; to even think of naming me Lalage. I accept Laetitia though with great pleasure, since what you say about me is true," Laetitia spoke with a grin. "I'm the exact opposite of Raven!"

"That's true," Zarathustra huffed and Beast Boy broke into laughter.

"Shut up," she hissed, silencing the changeling.

Xenos tapped the last egg lightly with a tail and a screech of impatience sent him crawling backwards.

"You have five Titans, yes? Where is the last one, for he is impatient and if he gets stalled longer, he'll be in an even sourer mood than Zarathustra was when he first saw BB," he said in a worried tone.


	3. Peanut Butter Crumbles

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra) 

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: Starfire and Cyborg have been awared their dragons and now four of the five eggs have hatched: Zarathustra, dragon of darkness; Xenos, dragon of earth; Hytimjir't, dragon of water and Laetitia, dragon of electricity. The remaining dragon is getting restless, but when all five dragons are hatched, can the teens keep them out of trouble?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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"Well, then Robin must know immediately that he needs this egg of a dragon," Starfire decided, reaching for the red egg hastily.

"Wait," Raven said, stopping the girl. "Why don't we find Robin and bring him to the egg? Then more of us could search for him."

"That's a good suggestion," Zarathustra muttered, then narrowed his eyes. "We shall find Robin and unite him with his dragon."

Without another word, he pushed himself from his perch, landing gently on the carpet. As he walked towards the door though, it slid open to reveal Robin, staring out at them all.

"This is Robin? Robin in a birdie costume?" the dragon mocked, sneering at the boy wonder, who glared at him scornfully.

"Uh, excuse him," the Goth muttered, making her dragon turn and, sensing her thoughts, plodding back to her to resume his position on her shoulder.

"Robin, we were about to look for you!" the alien exclaimed, picking up the red egg and drifting towards him. "Here, this is for you."

"A rock?" he inquired, his mask narrowing, but when she shoved it closer, he accepted it.

"Not a rock!" chirped Xenos.

"Wait, what are those things doing in here?" the boy wonder breathed, stunned as his mind clicked in as he looked at Zarathustra, Xenos, Hytimjir't and Laetitia.

Before any more words could be exchanged, a low whistle that grew louder in pitch and higher in volume exploded from the egg. In glee, the egg trembled, causing Robin to give it a wary, yet puzzled glance. Smooth lines ran along the outside of the shell before it crumbled, showing two burning amber eyes. It shook its head, pushing the rest of the egg off of it.

"About time!" the dragon hissed.

Its horns curved inward like that of a ram's. Its paws were nothing but flames that could burn if it wished, but since this was its Rider, those flames were of nothing but a slight tickle. Its flame-tipped tail swished lightly and it flapped its flaming wings of fire. Its red scales gleamed in the light. Small fangs that barely escaped its jaws stood silent, similar to Zarathustra's although they were four times smaller and not as sharp.

Sharp spikes jolted out from its cheeks, although there was only one on each side and those were the only spikes on its entire body.

"Um, why did you give me this?" he asked, stunned as he stared at the dragon in his palms.

"I am your dragon, you are my Rider," it hissed with impatience, its dragon-like tongue flashing out of its jaws.

"We all have dragons, thanks to these three here," Cyborg muttered, motioning to Beast Boy, Raven and Starfire.

Beast Boy shrugged sheepishly as Laetitia retorted coolly, although there was joy in her voice: "Hey, you know you love me!"

The cyborg scoffed lightly.

"This is my dragon, Hytimjir't, Raven's dragon is Zarathustra, Xenos is Beast Boy's and Laetitia is Cyborg's. That dragon is yours, you need to give him a name," Star spoke, motioning to each dragon in turn.

"Then what about Aedh for fire in Gaelic?" Robin muttered to the dragon.

"Fire is my element; fire can be my name in a different language," Aedh spoke, accepting his name in his own way.

Just as the alien was about to congratulate them, the alarm sounded and the room began to flash red.

"What's the problem, dude?" Beast Boy said, trying to peer over his leader's shoulder as he figured out what was wrong.

"Cinderblock," Robin announced, then looked to the door. "Titans, move!"

He ran out the door, while the other stood silently until Raven decided: "Stay here."

With that, all the Titans disappeared, leaving the five baby dragons to stay in the common room alone. They glanced around, exchanging meaningful glances with each other.

"Well?" Laetitia questioned with impatience.

"Let us follow and see what our Riders can do without us," Xenos suggested.

Without waiting for the others, he padded to where the Titans had left. The others didn't follow, instead just sat there regarding him as he halted in confusion, sitting down at the door.

"Aren't you guys coming?" he said, hurt that no one had even bothered to try and follow him.

"Why don't we wait _until _we can actually fly, use our powers, et cetra. That way if they needed our help, we could offer our undivided assistance to them. Besides, if we get caught, imagine what Raven would do," Zarathustra muttered, shuddering slightly as he recalled what Raven had thought before she left.

Joining the group, the five dragons sat clustered on the sofa, before they grinned and ran out of the common room.

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"Whoa!" Beast Boy cried as he morphed back into his human form after having Cinderblock deliver a punch to his face.

Rubbing his head, he groaned, staggering to his feet before his knees buckled and he collapsed. A pale grey hand extended towards him and he followed the arm to see Raven standing there, arm out to help him up. Grinning, he placed his gloved hand in hers, allowing her to hoist him up to his feet without a fight.

"Thanks," he breathed, but she merely turned away, levitating into the air, causing him to scowl.

Cyborg's right arm changed into a gun and he aimed it at the moving rock. At the same time, Starfire had flown in and was trying to punch and kick the opponent. Gripping her leg, Cinderblock hurled her at the half-robot. They collided, causing the cyborg to shoot the roof with a powerful blast that caused supports to begin to fall.

Yanking out his bo-staff, Robin ran at Cinderblock, slamming his metallic stick against his chest. Stumbling backwards, Cinderblock's eyes narrowed and he grabbed the end of the bo-staff, causing him and the boy wonder to have a small game of tug-o-war. The stick snapped and Robin tossed the remnants away. Just as Starfire and Cyborg had begun to raise, their leader smacked into them.

With a growl, Beast Boy morphed into a tyrannosaurus rex, charging at the opponent while Raven's hands were enveloped in a black aura and her eyes burned white. Stopping just as Cinderblock tried to punch him, the changeling caused him to miss, then spun around, slamming his tail against Cinderblock's flank.

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" Raven yelped as Cinderblock came hurtling towards her, just having enough time for her powers to impact against the falling rock pile.

With the force of the impact, Cinderblock was forced against the wall, where supports from the roof fell on top of him caused by Cyborg weakening it by an accident. Getting up, Robin grinned at his teammates, giving them thumbs up.

"Good job," he complimented just as sirens sounded outside.

Police ran inside the building to collect the escaped criminal.

"Good work, Titans!" a commander praised and the teens waited until they were sure the police had Cinderblock before they left for their tower.

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When they entered, they stood still and silent, gawking at the mess in the common room. Papers were strewn across the room, the fridge was open, food was everywhere and there was a moving lump under a pile of newspapers. Videos games had been scattered in numerous places and Beast Boy's CDs were thrown everywhere.

"My tunes!" he cried, racing towards the newspaper.

He jerked it off to reveal a plump green body, half of it hidden inside a jar of peanut butter. Grabbing the tail, he pulled the dragon out of the jar, dangling him before his emerald eyes. Hiccupping, his dragon's eyes opened and a worried look crossed Xenos's face. Peanut butter was everywhere on the top half of his body.

"Yo, you ate all the peanut butter and almost all the food!" Cyborg yelled as he stared in the almost empty fridge. "All you left was tofu, you damned bastard!"

"You're complaining about-me? Look around the-tower," Xenos whimpered between hiccups.

Beast Boy dropped his dragon and, muttering the five Titans left the common room to see what disasters awaited them. They stopped when they entered the hallway. Starfire covered her face with her hands, while Raven shook her head, her violet eyes scanning the walls.

Holes were in the walls and only small hiccups broke the silence from the small dragon following them. They progressed down the hallway until they saw a tail sticking out of a hole.

"Hytimjir't!" the alien scolded her dragon, gently scooping her out of the hole.

Dust and plaster covered the small water dragon, who smirked sleepily. She sneezed, shaking the dust and plaster from her petit body, receiving a chuckle from the earth dragon.

"What did you do to the hallway?" Robin snapped, glaring at the holes and finally the dragon.

"I was looking for water; what did you expect?" was her mere, simple reply as she shrugged her delicate shoulders.

Cradling the sleepy dragon, they continued on groggily, dreading what they would find. They came to the first door: Beast Boy's room. The door slid open, revealing his bedroom, but instead of being messy, it was neat. No clothes littered the floor and there were no blankets to any of his beds. Frowning, he peered in.

"What happened to my stuff!" he wailed.

Suddenly Silkie slithered out from under the bed, a sheet hanging out of his jaws, which he swallowed hastily when he saw them.

"Bad Silkie, you are a very bad glubworf," Starfire scolded her other pet, causing him to whimper as he slithered away.

"Well, at least we won't have to worry about the stench for a while," Raven mocked.

"We'd better find the last dragons before they do anything worse. I'm sure they're even more devious than these two," Cyborg muttered, walking forward.

He stopped in front of Raven's room, the door opening easily. It was clean, just as she had left it, although there was a small heap near the bottom of the bed.

"Told you you'd get caught, especially eating half the fridge and destroying nearly the entire hallway searching for liquid when you could've just easily filled the sink like I told you. But no, no one listens to intelligence," scoffed the black object, moving around until he slid off the bed.

"Hey, at least no one found out-" Xenos began to complain to Zarathustra, but was cut off by a tail to the mouth.

"At least Zarathustra's civilized," the Goth sneered, walking forward to the room that held things from past criminals.

The door opened automatically, only to reveal-much to their horror-everything on the floor. The dragon of darkness coughed lightly, knowing this was only a small portion of what he had done. Eyes wide with anger and frustration, Robin stalked into the room, but finding no evidence as to whom accomplished the task, cursed.

"To hell with these damned bastards," he whispered, barely audible to anyone except Beast Boy, Raven, Zarathustra, Xenos and Hytimjir't.

The dragons merely cocked their heads as they regarded him, backing up as he almost stomped on them as he stepped bitterly out of the room. They followed their leader farther behind, stopping at Starfire's room. Gulping, Xenos glanced at the other two. Only Hytimjir't held a worried gaze, but Zarathustra's was calm and cool, collected, almost like his Rider's. The door opened, flashing clothes torn, thrown listlessly across the bedroom, the sheets crumpled up in different places.

Placing a hand to her mouth, the alien whispered: "My clothes! I must travel to the mall of shopping now!"

Though the dragons heard her, they paid no mind to her as the others backed away, allowing the automatic door to close. They took slower, shorter strides to the last two bedrooms, dreading the worst. Robin's door opened without a sound, revealing charred sheets, clothes torn, a slashed mattress and a candle burning; wherever that came from, no one quite knew.

Judging the burning candle and charred sheets though, they knew who it was, even without noting the dragon scuttling out from the closet. One of Robin's capes was draped over him and one of his masks was over Aedh's eyes. Though the cape dragged along the ground behind him, he paid no mind to it as he raced towards his Rider and his friends.

"What did you do to my room?" Robin whittled between clenched teeth.

"Well, I was playing and my tail and paws accidentally burned your blankets. Besides, Zarathustra told us that we could do anything in any room, just not Raven's if we valued our lives," Aedh answered with a sly smirk.

"I did not!" Zarathustra retorted in his own personal defense. "I told you nothing about any room, just said not to do anything to Raven's room if that was what you were planning if you valued your life."

He nodded his head, his deep blue eyes icy. He hissed something low, then led the others easily to the final room: Cyborg's bedroom. As soon as he stepped near the door, it opened up for him, flashing wickedly Cyborg's spare parts on the floor and his recent experiment tipped over on the desk. They looked at the computer to see one of Beast Boy's videos on the screen and Laetitia happily pressing buttons with her toes while her tail controlled the mouse.

"Level 39," the screen announced and she grinned even wider.

Beast Boy glowered at her as Cyborg cleared his throat. Her ears twitched and she immediately stopped typing. There was a loud boom on the computer, followed by a decision from the computer: "GAME OVER!"

It flashed in crimson red on the computer screen, not even thinking about leaving. The screen went blank as soon as Laetitia ejected the CD, and she placed it gently on the desk before her, backing away gently, her smile fading.

"Level 39. She beat me at my own game," Beast Boy hissed, snatching the CD from the desk.

"What did you do to my spare parts? And that is not a computer to be playing games on!" Cyborg hollered, but she didn't even flinch.

"I wanted to see what made you who you are, since you are half robot, half human. But I found no answers with your spare parts, so I found one of Beast Boy's computer games and started playing it!" she announced, almost pleased with her as a grin spread across her muzzle.

"Did you destroy the criminal evidence room?" growled a still pissed leader, but she only blinked at him with her glowing golden eyes.

"No, that was Zarathustra. He trashed the medical centre thingy two," she answered.

"The medical centre thingy?" the boy wonder inquired, puzzled until he figured out what she meant by it.

He whipped around, as did the rest of them to scold Zarathustra-Robin wanted to kill him for what he did to the evidence room-but the black dragon was no where to be found. Cursing again, Robin pushed past his teammates, stalking away to find the dragon. Sighing bitterly, Cyborg stepped into his room and the door closed.

They flinched when they heard their metallic friend screaming at the top of his lungs at his poor, innocent dragon.

_It's not her fault that Cyborg doesn't know how to control his own dragon, _the changeling thought, walking away slowly, followed by Raven, but Starfire stayed, waited for them to turn the corner, then picked up her dragon and carried her to the roof.

Xenos followed swiftly behind his Rider, his hiccups having left in the meantime. His tongue snaked out of his jaws to lick as much of the peanut butter that he could off of his scales. How he enjoyed eating that peanut butter. His eyes narrowed when he saw Beast Boy flash a devious grin at the Goth, part his lips to speak and reach his hand out to grasp hers.

Before they made contact though, she jerked her hand forward, disappearing into her room. The door closed behind her and Beast Boy's ears drooped down as he gaped at her door before he flicked his ears up and picked up the messy dragon.

"I've gotta teach you to like tofu now, or Cyborg'll have a fit, dude," he muttered as he stepped into his room.

"But I am a _carnivore _and eat _meat _and…and…_peanut butter!" _Xenos whimpered in protest.

"Well, you can't eat all the food in the fridge-especially the peanut butter-and you _have _to like tofu, man. I told Cyborg you would like tofu," the changeling snapped and the earth dragon gave in, nodding his small head in a response that clearly said 'Yes, my Rider.'

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Raven stood in her room behind the door until she heard Beast Boy's steps fading before she walked to her bed. She sat upon it, crossed her legs and began to levitate.

"Azarath metrion zinthos," she whispered, repeating this until a sharp talon pricked her knee.

She opened an eye, continuing to levitate as she bored daggers into her dragon's small face. His tongue licked his already completely clean fangs, a small smile flashing on his muzzle.

"When Robin finds you, he's going to kill you," she commented dryly after they had stared at each other like that for a while.

"That's why he won't find me until I know he's calmed down. No, he won't forget about it, but I can wait until there are other matters that replace that. Besides, he's so slow he wouldn't even be able to lay a finger on me if I were moving the pace of a sloth," he mocked with a feisty smile.

She nodded slowly, resuming meditation as she closed her eyes.

"Meditation calms you and helps keep your powers in control, does it not?" he inquired, but when she didn't respond, he scowled.

_Hello, Raven! Zarathustra here before you. Meditation keeps your powers in control, does it not, _he repeated, but his voice rang in her mind, though her ears did not hear him.

_You know telepathy? _was all she spoke in her mind, continuing to meditate, her lips continuing to speak her words.

_Of course I know it; every single dragon can use it, old and young, _he scoffed.

_All right then. Now tell me this; how did you know to tell the others not to do anything to my room?_

_Quite easy, actually. Our minds are connected you see, so your emotions are my emotions; your thoughts are my thoughts, _he answered.

_So I see… _she fumed. _How do you know who is supposed to be your Rider when you are inside an egg, waiting to be hatched?_

_When our Rider picks our egg up, we feel their power and know they are the one. So we hatch. We can wait a long while in our eggs until our Rider comes; I have waited almost one hundred years for you, Raven, _Zarathustra replied, quite bored with just sitting here.

_Then how come when I first held you and when Beast Boy first held Xenos, you both did not hatch? _She remembered when she had first held all the eggs and when Beast Boy had held the four remaining eggs and nothing had occurred.

_We could not tell, for with the eggs around us, we could feel many different sources coming from you both and the other eggs. If you want us to hatch, we must be held alone, _he said, flicking his tail from side-to-side.

Leaving it as that, they stopped talking; the dragon regarded his Rider as she meditated while she ignored him and everything else to keep her mind focused.


	4. A Dragon's Magic

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: When the Titans returned from defeating Cinderblock, all they found was the tower trashed! Much to their discouragement, almost everything in the tower had been destroyed by the five dragons and Silkie. Can they keep their dragons under control?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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The Goth stepped into the common room, where everything was normal; Robin was listening to music, Starfire was cooking up something and Cyborg and Beast Boy were fighting over the game controller. The only differences were the dragons assembled there. Xenos had a plate filled with tofu on it and he held a disgusted look on his muzzle as he sniffed it. But with a quick glance at his Rider, he took a hasty bite, grimaced at the taste, swallowing it anyways.

His tongue lolled out of his jaws, and his eyes were wide and large. Hytimjir't was staring down into the bubbling pot on the stove that Starfire was busily stirring and adding in more ingredients. Her eyes were narrowed to slits as she stared with boredom at the bubbling mess, recoiling when her Rider pulled the spoon out. The mixture was on the spoon and the water dragon could've sworn it was still alive as her Rider pushed the spoon closer to her jaws.

"Taste," the alien said softly, although there was decision in her voice.

Without waiting for her dragon, she stuffed the spoon into her small jaws, releasing it. Choking on the large spoon that she had almost fully swallowed, she spit out the spoon, but to keep her Rider's feelings strong, she swallowed the goop. She grimaced at her idiotism; it tasted horrid and she could feel the chunks sliding down her throat.

Aedh sat on top of Robin's CD player, his eyes staring at the speakers that blasted out the music that was much too loud for his liking. Nonetheless, he didn't complain once; he was trying his best to get back on his Rider's good side after what happened to his bedroom. He didn't dare even make a peep about the music, merely pushed his ears against his horn to try to block out some of the noise.

Laetitia sat excitedly on the back of the sofa, her long body sitting up high in a large hump. Her eyes followed the controller as she waited for her turn, which-not at all to her knowledge-would not occur.

"Yo, BB, I'm in the middle of a one-player game!" Cyborg complained bitterly.

No one noticed Raven walking to the edge of the sofa, or her sit down, or her open her book and begin reading. No one noticed the head that peeked out from her cloak, its red eyes staring at the new language. Though currently the dragon had no knowledge of the words that were not English, Zarathustra's Rider was translating the words to him in their minds and he was paying good attention to the text.

"I don't care! It's my turn, dude!" the changeling retorted.

"Shut up! I can't think with all this bickering!" roared an angry Robin, who's mask had begun to twitch with frustration, but only Starfire and four of the five dragons paid attention to him; Beast Boy and Cyborg were to involved in their argument and Raven and Zarathustra were to engrossed in their reading.

"It is not! You just woke up; go eat your tofu, you little green bean," snapped the metallic man.

"No way, dude, it's my turn! Besides, you need to go buy more groceries, including my tofu!" challenged the green boy, tugging harder on the controller, but the robot tugged back.

"What do you mean it's my turn to buy groceries as well as your stupid tofu? It was your dragon that ate the food and your dragon that's eating the rest of your tofu!" Cyborg bellowed.

"Hey, Cy! It's not my fault I was hungry," complained the earth dragon between mouthfuls of tofu, but he was ignored.

"Let go already!" the changeling whined.

"No way, man!" snarled Cyborg.

A large, metallic hand released itself from the controller and the robot jerked it backwards to punch the little green boy. In doing so, his elbow hit Raven in the head hard, forcing her to fall over the side of the couch. Hearing a thump, Cyborg let go of the game controller, sending the green changeling flying over the other side of the sofa, controller in hands. When the Goth rose, she glared at the metallic man while Zarathustra went to retrieve the book with bitterness.

"Oops, uh, sorry Rae," he apologized, trying not to get killed, but nothing he did could stop it.

With a zap from the charka gem on her forehead, Cyborg was catapulted over the back of the couch, landing with a thud on the ground behind it. In doing so, he hit Laetitia on the way, but before he could land on her, she got free, the large teen barely missing her. She let out a hiss of warning before he lunged upward, landing on the back of the couch. Grumbling, she settled herself in.

Book in mouth, the dragon of darkness returned to his Rider who had seated herself back on the couch. He dropped it in her lap, then lay down on her legs to continue reading when Starfire came around the side of the couch.

"Try!" she ordered the Goth, shoving a mouthful of her recipe in Raven's face.

She recoiled. Red eyes boring daggers into the alien, the dragon knew exactly how to save his Rider; in fact, it was the only way.

He ate the slump.

He choked on the stuff in his jaws, but he had at least cleaned the spoon, leaving the alien to stare down at the empty wooden spoon in her jaws.

_Horrid food! _He complained to the Goth as she glanced up at the girl.

_That's what you get in trying Star's cooking. For your own safety, I'd suggest you don't try it again, _she answered coolly.

_It was the only way to save you! _He retorted, growling low as Starfire walked back to her dragon, who was staring intently at the pot.

Laetitia glanced at Hytimjir't, giving her a nod.

"Hey, Star!" Laetitia called, making the alien turn around to stare at the dragon; the perfect distraction.

"Yes?" she inquired, the same moment Hytimjir't had dumped the goop in the garbage and was just returning with the empty pot.

She set it down in the normal spot, taking her seat before it, her tail flicking from side-to-side. Cyborg and Beast Boy-whom had finally risen from their positions on the floor-chuckled at the devious plan, while Robin just shook his head.

_Pretty good plan, wouldn't you say, BB?_

_What? Hey, who said that and how did you get in my mind?! _He immediately stopped laughing, but no one took any notice.

There was a scoff in his head before the reply: _Can't you recognize anything? I mean, if Raven were to talk to you in your mind, you'd know who it was, wouldn't you? _There was a chuckle, followed by a smooching sound.

_Cut that out! _The changeling snapped.

_Fine. Now, to answer your questions asked earlier. I am Xenos, your dragon. Gosh, you're so stupid. Anyways, Rider and dragon are connected by minds. Thus I can speak to you in my mind as you can to me as well. In fact, all Riders can do that. I'm sure Raven and Zarathustra are doing it currently and that's why he knows the odd text in her book. Anyways, your emotions are my emotions; your thoughts are mine, as mine are yours. I'm surprised you haven't noted my thoughts on the tofu. _There was another chuckle, then a pause before the dragon continued. _Now, do you not agree with me that it was a devious plan and quite intelligent?_

_Uh, okay then dude. And I do have a brain; I just don't use it much._

_Sure, _scoffed Xenos.

_Shut up. Anyways, uh, I guess it was a pretty good plan._

When Laetitia didn't reply, the girl shrugged, walking towards her recipe. When she looked down in the pot, she saw nothing there and cried: "Eeep!"

"What's the matter, Star?" Raven questioned monotone, not even bothering to look up from her book.

"Someone has eaten all of my glorbnefft!" she complained in a squealing voice.

"Uh, oops. Was I not supposed to eat it all? It was so good; I just couldn't help myself," Hytimjir't apologized, a sly grin forcing itself on her muzzle.

The other dragons chuckled softly before resuming their current duties.

"Oh. Never mind then."

"Okay Titans, let us begin," Robin announced. "Dragons, you can learn something from this."

The five teens and five mischievous dragons had gathered in the training area. Cyborg, Robin and Starfire were seated on the bench with the five dragons beside them. Raven and Beast Boy were in the middle, standing facing each other. The changeling fidgeted, while the Goth stood calm and quiet, her violet eyes staring coolly at the boy.

_It is okay, Beast Boy. You can do it. Just think she's another criminal, _Xenos coaxed.

_But she isn't! _Whimpered the changeling, glancing at the dragon, whom was sitting there, wearing a green cap he had found.

His eyes flicked to the black dragon, who also wore a cap, but it was a black baseball cap with a raven on it. He hissed at the changeling, making him flinch.

_You can beat him; easy. I can feel your powers surging through you. They are strong, _commented a dry voice in the Goth's head.

_I know, Zarathustra._

"Titans, go!" ordered Robin, who was sitting quite close to Starfire and had his arms crossed over his chest.

Taking a deep breath, the green boy closed his eyes for a second before he morphed into a ram. When his eyes opened, the girl was no longer there.

_Where'd she-_

_TURN AROUND! _Hissed Xenos, but it was too late.

As soon as he had begun to turn around, he was kicked hard in the flank and sent flying, skidding across the floor as he morphed back. Rubbing the back of his head when he stopped, he rose to his feet, a determined look crossing his face. His pupils turned to slits and he increased in size as he became a pterodactyl. He flew forward towards her, stretching out his talons. He tried to claw at the Goth, but she slid to the side easily.

She didn't expect him to change quickly into a tyrannosaurus rex though and slam his tail into her. It pinned her against the wall, making her grimace in pain as the wall cracked slightly.

_G- _Zarathustra began, but she cut him off.

_I know what I'm doing, _she answered sharply, although there was more to her voice in her mind than just her normal voice.

Her body melted into the wall and the changeling changed back, searching for her. A leg connected hard with his legs, knocking him off his feet before he was jerked into the air by a black aura. It pushed him against the wall, not as hard as he had the Goth, but still pretty hard.

The aura disappeared and he slid down the wall, looking around for the girl, but he still couldn't see her. A foot slammed into his back, making him fall flat on his face as Raven emerged from the wall, her hood up, although her face remained emotionless.

_Get up; don't give up; you can do it if you put your mind to it. Put them self-esteem into it! _Cried the earth dragon, but again it was just too late.

"End!" cried Robin. "Raven, congratulations. Beast Boy, good job."

"Sure," he muttered under his breath, staggering weakly to his feet and stumbling towards the bench, where he slumped down beside Cyborg.

"Looks like mister almighty got his ass kicked by a girl. Man, you got creamed badly; that was a petty fight you put up there," Cy taunted.

"Hey! I wasn't trying to hurt!" complained an angry changeling.

"Mmm, sure you were," mocked Zarathustra, who motioned to the cracked wall where Beast Boy had smacked Raven against it and the blood smeared there. "That's why you caused that."

He gaped at it, grappling for his voice before he whispered hoarsely: "I didn't."

"You did," said an icy voice as the Goth sat down beside her dragon.

Blood tricked down her forehead and her palms were bloody, but she didn't care.

"Oh my god, Raven, I'm so sorry!" Beast Boy apologized swiftly, reaching over to help her.

He retracted his hand sharply when that same tail slammed down just a centimeter from his fingers. Zarathustra hissed at the boy, then turned to Raven, who was staring at him intently, knowing he had a plan. Using the bottom of his tail to wipe away the blood on her hands, his red eyes glowered at the flesh that had been stripped of her hands. Spreading out his wings, he touched his muzzle to her hands and new skin began to form over the wounds until it looked as though nothing had ever even happened.

Surprisingly, it didn't hurt anymore either. Wiping the blood off of the bottom of his tail, he climbed onto her shoulder, wiping the blood on her face before he touched his nose to the gash on her head, healing it as well.

_How'd you do that? _She asked when he finished.

_Not sure. Dragons have powers that even we don't know about; it happens and we don't have a clue at how it occurred, _he answered simply.

Beast Boy glared at the dragon, his brow furrowed as Starfire and Robin began to battle with each other.


	5. Catching Rancid

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra) 

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: Beast Boy and Raven battle each other in the training area, but the changeling accidently injures her. Something magical occurs; Zarathustra heals Raven's wounds with powers unknown to human and dragon kind. Can the dragon's show their full potential?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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Weeks had past since the five Titans had found their own dragons and those dragons were getting bigger. Though they only stood taller than Beast Boy currently, they were growing fast. Though most creatures don't change when they grow older, Zarathustra had begun to change. It was a slight change; small, koi-like whiskers had begun to form near the corners of his jaws. They formed a slight bump to grow outward, but curved back inward before the tips turned slightly outward.

They were black, just like his body, although no one knew why he developed these, or why he was the only one to actually change. They performed no good reason, except perhaps a décor.

The teens and their dragons were on the roof; four of the Titans had begun a game of volleyball, while the Goth sat alone, meditating nearby the edge of the roof. The dragons watched, hungry to play, but they did not ask to join in, for one of the dragons would not be eligible to play with them, since the girl did not join in.

_Raven._

Though no one spoke, the words echoed in Raven's mind, loud, but forceful all the same. She did not reply; she did not open an eye to see who had spoken. Then again, she need not have done that, for only her dragon could speak to her in her mind without her letting them.

_Raven, _the voice hissed, louder this time as it tried to get her attention. When there was no answer, Zarathustra narrowed his eyes and roared in her mind before he screamed: _RAVEN!_

_What do you want? _She inquired with slight impatience, though her head rung from the impact of the scream and roar.

_Play volleyball, _he ordered sternly, as if he were her mother.

_I do not want to play. Besides, I need to meditate, _was her icy reply.

_You do not need to meditate, Raven; you have been meditating almost for the whole entire day. It is time you took a break and I know you want to play. _The voice taunted her, although she didn't give in.

_I already said no._

_Then shall I force you? _There was a pause before the dragon chuckled lightly.

_You cannot make me do something I do not wish to partake in, _she snapped.

_Oh, you think not? _Again he chuckled. _One last chance._

_NO!_

_You got it, _the voice hissed.

She dropped to the ground, clutching her ears as a high-pitched wailing scream echoed throughout her mind, blasting into her brain, but no one else heard it, or noticed her. They were all to intent on the game. When she didn't give in, it only grew louder and stronger, until it felt as though an icy dagger were being stabbed into her mind repeatedly. The noise was making her head spin, and she closed her eyes tighter, trying to block out the noise, but the more she fought, the stronger it fought back.

_STOP! _She growled bitterly, but the voice continued strong. _FINE! I'll play. Happy now?_

The scream stopped and there was a slight pause. _Yes._

_Good. Don't do that again, _she scolded, opening her eyes and releasing her grip around her ears as she stood.

She turned around to her friends who were playing. Suddenly the ball came flying towards her, but she caught it fast, dropping it in her hands.

"Hey, Ravey! Wanna play?" Beast Boy called, although he knew the Goth's answer by heart already.

"Sure," was her mere reply as she shrugged, walking towards them.

Mouth hanging open, the changeling gawked at her, while the others grinned with joy. They had finally managed to get their friend to actually play volleyball with them.

"What team am I on?"

"Ours!" the changeling piped in quickly, then covered his mouth with gloved hands.

A crimson tint crept along his cheeks, flushing them a rosy colour. He dipped his head in embarrassment, trying to hide his blush, but Raven only shrugged again, walking towards their side.

"Hey!" Laetitia called as her tail lashed from side-to-side. "Since the teams aren't even, may we play with you?"

"Well all right, Laetitia. Show us whatcha got," Cyborg hollered excitedly and the yellow dragon raced to him.

She purred with glee, rubbing against him as the other dragons came. Hytimjir't joined the other female dragon, while the three males skittered towards their Riders. They glared at each other, since the teams weren't even. A brawl began between Aedh and Zarathustra, but was broken apart by Robin.

Glowering at his dragon's immatureness, he muttered under his breath, then told him to join the other team. With a low growl and a hostile glance to a proud darkness dragon, he flicked his tail and joined Laetitia, Hytimjir't, Starfire and Cyborg.

"All right, ya'll just don't pop the ball with your spikes and horns," the metallic man cautioned the dragons, who told him not to worry.

Robin twirled the volleyball in his hands, waiting for the others before he threw it up into the air. His right hand connected with the ball in an overhand serve, sending it towards Laetitia. Her eyes glowing, she ducked her head down.

"Got it," she called, hitting it into the air with her nose: "Up!"

Without a word, Cyborg's hands formed a triangular shape above his forehead.

"Here, here, here!" Hytimjir't chattered excitedly, bouncing up and down.

He set the ball to her and she waited for it to lower. Then she spun, using the bottom of her tail to hit it over the net, slamming it down at Beast Boy.

"Whoa!" he cried just before it hit him in the head, bouncing towards the Goth.

Just as easy as Cyborg, she set it near the front of the net, where Robin was waiting. He ran towards it, jumped up and spiked it to the ground. Lowered, the alien girl had no trouble getting it up. Aedh ran towards it and, without waiting for a set, hit it hard with the bottom of his tail and sent it spiraling towards the ground. In a desperate attempt to not lose the point, Xenos dove for the ball, digging it up.

Robin ran underneath it, setting it for the darkness dragon, whom stood anxiously, waiting to hit the ball. When it came to him, he used the bottom of his chin, his whiskers grazing the volleyball as it was sent careening towards the cement. Flattening himself to the ground, Aedh tried to dig it up, but missed and the ball bounced on the ground before him.

Moaning, he picked himself up and another rally was set. They continued to play-teens and dragons-until the sun had begun to set. Heavy clouds had drifted in from the east and covered the sun as well as most of the sky.

As rain began to fall, the changeling picked up the volleyball and he ran towards the door. Laetitia and Hytimjir't stood silently, staring up at the raindrops.

"Yo, ya'll are comin' in, right?" Cyborg inquired, looking at his dragon.

"No, it's finally beginning to rain and I'm not about to leave this liquid!" Hytimjir't decided swiftly, bobbing her head.

"I would prefer to stay out here," Laetitia murmured with a slight shrug.

"All right, but ya'll come in when you're ready, 'kay? Then I can dry you off." The metallic man grinned before he followed the others inside.

"Mmm, water. How I love the water," Hytimjir't said when they left with a large smirk.

"And a thunderstorm to beat."

Laetitia cocked her head, grinning happily at the water dragon before she tapped her tail lightly on the concrete. Lightning flashed through the sky as soon as her tail made contact and soon after thunder rumbled. Her eyes flashed with joy, but they whipped around at the sound of an alarm. It didn't take long for the three other dragons to join them in the rain and none of them seemed to mind except Aedh.

"They've left!" Xenos squealed with delight.

"Yes; we shall go now, since we can fly. Besides, we can prove ourselves useful now," Zarathustra concluded with a jerk of his head.

He followed his nose to the edge of the roof, peering over the ledge to the rocks below. The waves crashed against the shore listlessly.

"Not in the rain," Aedh snarled.

"It's Johnny Rancid. There's no trouble about him," hissed a bitter darkness dragon, clamping his jaws shut tightly.

"Then let us go. If you wish to stay, stay," Laetitia breathed, shrugging as she glanced at the fire dragon.

Flexing his wings, Zarathustra propelled himself into the air, his large wings beating at the wind and he easily hovered, waiting for the others. Hytimjir't followed, her bird-like wings catching the air fast, much faster than Xenos, who had jumped after her. His branches with leaves struck the air as he began to fall, but they caught suddenly and he jerked upwards.

"Coming?" Laetitia asked Aedh before she followed.

Though she knew she had no wings, she jumped off the edge as if she did. She dropped slowly, but a cloud came to support her. Lightning forked in the sky behind her as she arched her back and flexed her claws.

"Feels good to be in the air," she whispered.

Muttering hoarse words underneath his breath, Aedh spread his flaming wings that didn't die in the rain and followed the other dragons.

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Johnny Rancid sat on his bike in the rain, looking around. He had purposely set off the alarm just to have the Titans come chasing after him like rabid dogs.

"How I love riding in the rain," he hissed just before the five teens appeared.

"You're going down, just like every other criminal; just like the criminal you are," Robin snapped, his helmet blocking the rain as he sat on his halted bike.

"Oh, like you can stop me, _Bird boy," _Rancid taunted before he revved his bike into gear and set off at a fast and dangerous pace.

"Titans, go!" yelped Robin before he followed him swiftly.

Tires squealing the rain, the T-car zoomed after the boy wonder. Raven, Starfire and Beast Boy-who had taken on the shape of a pterodactyl-flew after them. The trio came to an abrupt halt when they came to a four-way intersection, with no sign of the T-car, Robin, or Rancid.

"Uh, they went that way!" the changeling said as he morphed back, pointing to the left.

"No, they must have gone straight," Starfire decided, pointing in front of them.

"Why don't we just go separate ways?" Raven suggested, or more like told them so.

Shrugging Starfire went straight, Beast Boy went left and Raven took the right. Levitating just a bit above the street, the Goth traveled fast, her violet eyes scanning the roads for any sign of Rancid. When she saw a flash of black to her left, she turned sharply, but saw nothing at all, especially since the raindrops blurred her vision slightly. Blinking, she turned, only to be struck head-on by Rancid.

With a moan, she was knocked out of levitation, landing on the street hard. She looked at her bloodied hands, then up at the criminal, who had jerked out his laser and was pointing it at her chest: more appropriately, her heart.

"One bird down, one to go," Johnny Rancid snarled bitterly.

She closed her eyes, taking a sharp breath as she feared what were to happen next. She felt no pain though; her ears caught on a snarl and the laser reflecting off of something hard and metal. Her eyes opened and she saw before her a large, black creature that hissed menacingly at the criminal whilst it towered above her protectively. Water dripped from its large fangs like blood and when she saw the tail, she knew for sure who and what it was.

Squeaking like a child as his bike was pushed out from under him by the large tail and he fell to the hard, cold, wet asphalt. The whiskers at the bottom of the dragon's cheeks dripped with water as they began to levitate straight out. Ears flattened, eyes narrowed, nose scrunched up, Zarathustra's shape alone and stance could be your worst nightmare. The sound he created was worse than his bodily shape and form though; it was like a roar that screamed of hatred and death, but at the same time a hiss that warned of blood and pain.

His paw pressed against Rancid's stomach, flattening him against the road. His talons-though they didn't actually fully touch the man-were placed beside him, cold and wet as they scratched his sides.

"Call it off, whatever the hell it is!" Rancid screamed, just as the other Titans came into view and the other dragons dove down from the sky, landing around the criminal.

_Zarathustra, _Raven murmured gently in his mind and the dragon glanced back at her.

Seeing that the dragon didn't have his eyes on him any longer, he reached out, grabbed his gun and shot at Zarathustra's stomach. Whiskers trembling, he swung his tail, allowing the laser to reflect off of the metal and land on the ground right next to Rancid's head.

The criminal's body grew taut with fear, his eyes flickering to the steaming ground as he was jerked up by the boy wonder when the darkness dragon stepped off of him. He placed cuffs around the frightened man's hands that trembled with shock. His eyes never left those glowing, cruel, burning red eyes.

"I do have one question for ya'll," Cyborg began, scratching his chin thoughtfully: "What are ya'll doin' here?"

"We wanted to help and show you we could actually prove ourselves worthy!" Xenos spoke happily. "Although only Zarathustra really did anything. We all found Rancid though."

Grins spread across all of the dragon's faces, except Aedh who continued to scowl with disgust at the falling ran.

"Well, I hate to break it to ya'll, but we've go everything covered in this town," the metallic man said lazily.

"Apparently not. You guys couldn't even find Rancid, let alone _catch _him without us. Sure, you've done it tons of times before, but we can do just as good," Laetitia sneered, her eyes brimming. "Besides, we caught him much faster than all of you would have…well, okay, _Zarathustra _caught him."

He grunted, parted his jaws to speak, but the changeling laid a gloved hand on his large shoulder, silencing him. His lips closed and he bored daggers into his dragon, but there was no more and the Titans began the walk to the prison, where they would place Johnny Rancid. Then they could head on home, back to the tower.


	6. Bloody Prophecies

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: After finally coaxing Raven into playing volleyball, Johnny Rancid shows up to spoil the fun. The five teens go out to catch him and-not at all to their knowledge-their dragons follow. Zarathustra ends up catching Rancid, but all Cyborg can do is complain. Can they really learn to become a full team?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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_Beast Boy._

The words echoed around in the changeling's head, interfering with his dreams. It was changed into something that Raven said and he began to drool.

_Beast Boy._

This time it was louder and he closed his eyes tighter, trying to block it out. He curled into a ball under his covers, trying to escape the noise, but continue to dream his wonderful dream. His fantasy.

_BB! BEAST BOY! WHATEVER YOU WANT TO BE CALLED! AWAKEN!_

This time the voice screamed in his head, ringing in his mind and refusing to leave. His eyes flashed open and he shot upright in bed. Drool covered the blankets and his shirt; he raised a hand and brushed it off half-disgustingly. He looked around his dark room, his eyes adjusting to the dark lighting in search of whoever had forced him awake. Rubbing his head he yawned before he lay back down, curling in his blankets, to lazy to look any longer and to tired to keep himself awake.

_What is the meaning of this? I wake you up, only to have you trying to fall asleep again. Do you know _how _many times I've called you just to get you awake? I don't even want to start. Come on; get to the roof already, you lazy bones! _The voice boomed, with a small chuckle after it.

_Aww, Xenos, it's so early though, _moaned the changeling, looking at the clock beside him.

The digital numbers read 4:09 AM. Groggily pushing himself upright in bed again, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

_But you need to come early. Hurry up and come see this or you won't see it again._

Though the dragon was lying, this caused the changeling's curiosity to grow. Xenos praised himself silently as his Rider flumped softly to the floor, then met him on the roof.

"What, what?!" he asked excitedly, glancing around before he stifled a yawn.

"Come on, you have to come with me to see it," Xenos answered, walking towards his Rider.

He had grown again and was getting bigger. The other dragons were no where in sight on the roof.

"Where is everyone?"

"Already gone. Now get on!" the dragon snapped with impatience, lowering his head to reveal his neck.

Beast Boy merely stared at his dragon.

"You can't fly with me on you," he complained.

"Of course I can! Get on, or I'll force you on."

Yawning, he clambered lazily up Xenos's neck, sitting just after his neck, but before his wings. The earth dragon walked towards the edge of the roof before he jumped off and they began to fall. This caused the changeling to fully awaken and utter a cry as his dragon's wings beat heavily at the air, trying hard to catch on with the wind. The ground was getting closer fast.

"I told you that you couldn't pull it off!" wailed Beast Boy, who was prepared to jump off to save him.

"Hold on, already," the dragon muttered, his wings beating faster.

They suddenly caught the breeze just as Xenos's claws scraped the hard ground. Wings flapping, they rose higher and higher into the air until they were at a decent height. The air ruffled the leaves that made the dragon's wings, tugged at Beast Boy's clothes, played with his hair and mocked the thick, unbreakable branches. The antennae on the dragon's head lapped in the air greedily, flying in the changeling's face, making it uncomfortable.

"Not so bad when you get going, huh?" the dragon teased. "You want to see something cool? Close your eyes."

Groaning, the changeling warily closed his eyes. His mind began to whirl and he wanted to force his eyes open, but an unknown cause kept them closed shut. He parted his jaws to speak, only to get a mouthful of exhaust from cars. His eyelids snapped open and the world seemed so… different.

It wasn't so dully coloured any longer. It was brighter than what Beast Boy was used to and he could see the heat of human beings below them. His vision moved up to ahead of him to see his dragon's head, but all he saw were trees. His wings beat the air; his tail snapped playfully in the breeze. His claws curled beneath his chest and belly, while his antennae flapped in the air.

_What's happening?_

The words echoed in his mind as he questioned his dragon.

_You're seeing through my eyes. I have made us one, _Xenos answered calmly.

His vision changed back to normal and he complained bitterly, but began to shout in joy.

"Wish you were a dragon now?" teased the earth dragon.

"Of course. That's why I'm going to try to change into one later," he commented, receiving a small laugh from his dragon.

"I'd like to see you try."

"Finally, we're here!" exclaimed Beast Boy, jumping off of Xenos's back as soon as they landed.

He flattened himself to the ground, trying to hug it before he kissed the grass. He rose, brushing dirt off of himself before he looked at his dragon. He was giving him a dirty, but confused look, with an eye wider than the other. It was his way of raising an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What do you think? Why were you hugging and kissing the earth? You weren't successful in doing so, you know," scoffed the dragon.

"It's a joke," muttered Beast Boy, crossing his arms and looking away. "Hey. Where are the others, dude? I thought ya said the others were here already!"

"Liar. I said the others were gone already," retorted the green dragon, who was glowering at Beast Boy. "Now sit down and watch."

Grumbling, he flopped down on the grass, leaning on an arm as his eyes wandered from the dragon. Shaking his head, Xenos muttered under his breath before he parted his jaws, jerking his Rider's right glove off. A vine rose from the ground before the changeling, who jumped to his feet in surprise. Before he could react to it though, it had shot towards him, entering the palm of his right hand.

It disappeared without him feeling anything. It was as if it wasn't even there. Then his palm started to burn; he parted his lips to scream his agony, but no words came. It was as if someone were tearing the flesh from his body before they ripped his limbs apart while he still lived. The pain ebbed away and, with tears in his eyes, he glanced down at his palm.

A light flashed on his bare palm and when it faded, a burn had been made in his flesh.

"It's the Chinese symbol for earth," Xenos added in as his Rider gawked at his hand.

"How did you do that, dude?" Beast Boy inquired, rubbing the tears from his eyes before he pulled his glove over his hand, careful not to touch the burn, but it didn't hurt when the glove touched it.

"Watch, Raven, as I present to you something amazing."

Zarathustra's jaws opened to reveal a ball of dark energy. Black lightning snaked across it and the small ball grew bigger until it was the size of a fist. He released it then, shooting it right at his target: Raven's right palm. It made impact before she could even squeak, but the energy ball made no pain.

It seemed unrealistic to the Goth. She blinked, gazing at her open hand before it began to burn as if someone had placed a hot iron on it. She bit her bottom lip to conceal the pain, but it faded faster than it had come.

Like Beast Boy's it became illuminated before it faded to reveal a burn.

"Chinese for darkness," she breathed before her dragon could speak. "Amazing."

Without a word, Hytimjir't's lips parted and a blast of water erupted from her jaws. It escaped between her teeth, moving in a thick line towards Starfire's outstretched right hand. It entered her palm and she screamed out in fear, but it was quiet. When the pain came, tears streamed down her face.

It felt as though she had been shot in the head and was slowly dying. She wished for the agony to end and so it did, leaving a burn after a bright light.

"Look at what you have done!" she cried, pointing a finger at her dragon.

"It will make us stronger and more powerful," piped Hytimjir't. "It's the Chinese symbol for water."

"Yo, man, what are ya gonna do?" Cyborg inquired, gazing intently at Laetitia.

"Watch and learn from a master," was her mere reply.

Lightning forked down from a cloud, though no one but Laetitia and Cyborg saw it. It snaked towards the metallic, right hand before it impacted and he was sent with a large jolt of electricity. His red eye flashed as the jolt continued, growing stronger and stronger. When he thought he would either scream out in pain or die, the pain diminished.

"That is Chinese for electricity," she commented after a light had come and the symbol had been burned into his robotic hand.

"Hurry it up already," snapped an impatient boy wonder. "Any criminal can attack the city in our absence!"

Growling, Aedh grabbed Robin's right glove, yanked it from his arm and slammed his flaming tail upon his palm. Only the fire made impact though and he didn't feel a thing. Not until it felt as though he was being stabbed repeatedly in the back while someone punched him in the face. Pain ebbing, he glowered at Aedh before a light blinded him, shining from his hand. Oblivious to his dragon, he looked at his palm, which now had a burn on.

"Chinese symbol for fire," hissed Aedh before he blew a ring of fire into the air.

Zarathustra reached the tower first and the others were no where in sight. The Goth no longer looked at her palm, merely staggered across the roof, her body tired and groggy. The dragon followed close behind, but stopped at the doorway, which he no longer fit through. She clambered down the steps without him, stepping silently through the hallway.

Moving as if in a dream, she halted in front of her doorway, swaying as if she were drunk. She closed her eyes as it opened up and almost fell into her room, but caught herself, opening her eyes as she groped for her bed. Finding it, she took off her cloak, wriggling herself under the covers. What Zarathustra and the other dragons had done had sapped each of the Titan's energy.

She closed her eyes with a sigh, allowing sleep to slowly come to her.

Screams of help, fear and confusion flooded the still air, breaking the silence. Fires began, burning down houses in their hungry flames. A cry of children joined in with the screams and soon pleads of mercy and blood-curdling yelps of pain followed. The fires grew bigger with each passing second…

War raged as the vision came closer. Swords were drawn and humans and creatures were mounted upon the backs of unicorns and any mythical creature that had no wings. In the air, another war was going on. Pegasus's, phoenixes and other winged, mythical creatures held Riders. The only fantasy creatures missing were dragons.

Even creatures of darkness took place in the wars, although they sided with the other creatures, which included ogres and dwarves. Elves fought alongside the humans; some had bows and arrows, while others had bloody swords.

"Call the Dragon Riders!" a female elf yelled above the screams of war.

"They're too far to help us! Besides, how can we reach them?" answered a male human.

"We have to try. They're our only hope of defeating them," the elf cried upon her equine, which jumped into the air, kicking at the enemies while its rider swiped at them with her sword.

A head rose slowly, eyes filled with pain. An elf with glowing white hair pushed herself up slowly, looking around. Blood coated bandages were wrapped around her body, while some wounds had nothing covering them. She parted her lips before she spoke in an Elvin language.

She looked right up into the vision, her eyes meeting those peering eyes as if she saw whoever was regarding her in her misery and pain.

"Dragon Riders…" she rasped in an English voice that held no accent. "Please help us. We need your help badly."

The scene changed back to the war scene, but only the dead bodies of mythical creatures, humans, elves and their enemies lay scattered. Blood coated the ground and everything around it; most dead lay in pools of scarlet, which could not be told apart from theirs, or another's.

"Or this will happen. Everyone will die. Bring peace; help us," the elfin woman whispered before her head rested on the bed and her eyes closed.

Jolting herself awake, Raven's eyes grew wide.

"This is a nightmare and nothing else," she told herself, trying to comfort her conscious and emotions. "Not a prophecy. It means nothing. It's not even a dream. Not anything at all."

She was breathing heavy, her mind replaying the elf's words and the visions of war, pain and misery.

"It's definitely nothing. I have a wild imagination, I guess. Fear must be going amuck in Nevermore again," she continued, her breathing slowing.

Her pounding heart slowed its raging pace as well.

"Nothing at all."

She rested her head on her pillow, trying to fall back asleep, but each time the visions returned. Finally, they disappeared and sleep dragged her into its spell once more.

Red eyes flashed open and a black body jerked itself up to its large paws. Zarathustra's tongue snaked from his jaws to lick his fangs as he stared at the other dragons assembled there, asleep on the roof. Raven's nightmare-which she had convinced was not a prophecy and meant nothing, though it meant much and was indeed a prophecy-had been visible to the dragon because of the link they now shared with the burn.

He moved around the other dragons, jostling them all awake before he stood before them. He rose up on his hind legs to get higher in the air so all of them could see him, though there were only four.

"What is the meaning of this, Zarathustra?" hissed a bitter Aedh, who yawned.

"Calm down, Aedh. Let him speak before you make comments," Laetitia said peacefully, hushing the murmuring voices of the others.

All eyes rested calmly on the dragon of darkness, which stood before them. He cleared his throat.

"It's time," he breathed.

"What?" inquired Xenos, not believing his ears.

"It's time," announced Zarathustra, much louder this time. "Raven and I saw everything."

"You mean its true in the legends the others spoke of?" Hytimjir't squeaked.

"Yes," Zarathustra said with a nod. "The elves and humans seek of the Dragon Rider's help and courage."

"Where are they?" snapped Aedh.

"Let me finish," growled the other dragon.

"Okay, Zarathustra, we're all ears," Laetitia murmured.

"Crimson blood will flood the earth if we don't do something. The elves and humans are fighting dangerous enemies. The dragons are missing and the elves and humans seek their help. _Our _help along with _our _Riders," the black dragon continued.

"All right, now I shall ask. _Where _are they?" Aedh snarled.

"From what I saw, down south. Far south, near Antarctica," Zarathustra answered, boring daggers into Aedh.

"When shall we depart? This message must indeed be urgent. Am I correct, Zarathustra?" Hytimjir't piped in.

"It is very urgent. We need to leave in the morning, after everyone has eaten. When you sense your Rider has already eaten, tell them of the news. Only tell them that they need to come to the roof, then wait for the others. Don't forget to tell them to pack warmly because high altitudes mean cold temperatures," the black dragon declared, lowering himself.

"When everyone is assembled on the roof, we will get them to ride us, then fly to the elves and humans. When we don't turn back and they ask, we will tell them the truth and get Raven to back it up," Xenos finished proudly.

"Exactly."

"Pack their things, we're going to Antarctica!" exclaimed Laetitia.


	7. Determination

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: The dragons and Riders are closer together by the burns on each Rider's hand. Each is stronger in both mind and body. Raven received a prophecy that could mean the fate of the world. Can the five teenagers and five dragons really save the whole world?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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_Good morning, Raven! _Spoke a cheery voice.

The Goth looked around her dark and dreary room before she decided to answer back.

_Are you always cheerful in the morning, Zarathustra? _She inquired.

_No. Just today, _was his mere reply.

_Any reason at all?_

She continued to question him.

_No._

Grumbling, Raven got out of bed, grabbed her cloak and put it on as she left her room.

_Going to have some herbal tea? _He pestered.

_Does it really matter, _she stated somewhat playfully, although it was nothing near a question

_No._

Leaving it at that, she entered the empty common room. She strode confidently to her kettle and began to heat it up. She leaned against the counter as she waited for the water to begin to boil. Her mind was amazing silent as well as the common room until her kettle began to whistle.

Grabbing a mug, she poured the boiling water into her cup before she took a tea bag and placed it in her tea. Proclaiming it ready, she took the tea bag out, tossed it in the garbage and began to drink the warm liquid. It warmed her insides and though to a normal person it would burn them, it didn't burn her.

This was a good part to being a half-demon. You had a good resistance to heat.

She finished her tea after a while, setting the mug in the sink as she rinsed it. She left it as that, walking down the hallway back to her room.

_Hey Raven! _

Again Zarathustra had come to annoy her in her mind.

_What? _She hissed impatiently.

_You finished your _breakfast, _right?_

_Yes, what's your point? _She grumbled.

_Come to the roof and see. Oh and don't forget to bring warm clothes, _he advised.

_Warm clothes? It's not even cold outside, _she complained.

_In high altitudes it is, _he said, his voice now reserved.

_You're hiding something. Spit it out, _she hissed.

_Hiding something? No, no, _he answered, his voice now sounding shrill.

_Don't lie to me, _she muttered.

_Okay, okay. You know that _nightmare _you had?_

_How do you know about it? _She snapped.

_I know _everything _about you. Anyways, it wasn't a nightmare. You should've known that. It was a prophecy and we need to go right away! _Replied he urgently.

_You're trying to trick me._

_Would I lie to you about something you saw? _He retorted bitterly.

He received no answer.

_Didn't think so. Just hurry up, _he hissed.

Without a word, she entered her room, grabbing another cloak and leotard. The cloak had fur trims and it dangled limply as she strode towards the stairs that would take her to the roof. She climbed them bitterly, pushing open the door. The five dragons eyed her curiously before four of them parted to give her a path to the dragon of darkness.

His red eyes glowed as he regarded her calmly. She tossed the cloak and leotard over his shoulders and let them hang. The cloak just made it from shoulder to shoulder; he was broad and well muscled, large as well. His back was up higher than Raven by about half of her. He flexed his large wings, happy to soon be setting off.

"Cyborg's getting up!" Laetitia chattered nervously.

"Well, greet him," muttered Aedh, who was lying down now.

Getting a glare from the dragon of electricity, she did as she was told. They waited a while with Raven leaning against one of Zarathustra's legs before Laetitia swished her tail.

"He's coming without even complaining," she said suddenly.

"Good," Hytimjir't praised.

"We'll be waiting _forever _for Beast Boy to wake up," Raven grumbled.

"Yes. That is why I am going to wake him up soon," Xenos spoke proudly.

"Amazing," the Goth hissed sarcastically, though it was only loud enough for her and her dragon.

Zarathustra snorted, swishing his tail along the roof. Cyborg appeared, carrying his jacket in his arms, which he laid over Laetitia's shoulders like Raven had done. The long dragon pushed her nose against the metallic man's chest. His jacket hung from each shoulder; she was long, but not heavily muscled, although she did have muscles.

They were just stretched because of her long body.

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After a long while, the five Titans had assembled on the roof. The changeling's hair was ruffled and he looked calmly at Xenos. As Raven watched him, a new thought approached her.

_He's cute._

_You like him, don't you, _came a gruff voice.

_I do not! _She retorted, rejecting her dragon's idea.

_That's why you think he's cute, _he replied, grinning as he nudged her.

_I do not, _she hissed.

_Then why did you think that? _He taunted.

She glowered at him, but she did not reply.

"All right, we're all here. Let's go," growled Aedh impatiently.

Without allowing Robin to have anymore time, he grabbed his cape, lifted him into the air and placed him on his back. Laetitia giggled softly as she lowered her head so her Rider could mount, but he was trying to get up onto her back the hard way. She continued to giggle as she pushed him up with her nose.

Raven just levitated lazily onto Zarathustra's back, while Starfire forgot she could fly. She eagerly scrambled up Hytimjir't's tail, settling on her back. The changeling, yawning, accepted Xenos's head and slid down his neck to his back.

Zarathustra was the first to take off, not even moving to the edge. The others just had enough sense to back away from his large wings. Though it only had one claw on each, his wings were sharp like a knife. He circled overhead, waiting for the others to join him.

"Do you wish to fly, or shall we run?" inquired Laetitia.

"Whichever suits your fancy," was Cyborg's mere answer.

She grumbled before she jumped off the edge and was caught by a storm cloud that appeared. She closed her eyes, enjoying this. Hytimjir't pounced over the edge, her large feathers catching the breeze with ease.

Aedh followed and Xenos looked up. He could sense Beast Boy's nervousness and this was causing him to become nervous. He walked slowly to the edge, his leaves blowing softly in the wind.

_Don't be afraid, _he whispered in the changeling's head.

_How can I not? You almost crashed to the ground! _He whimpered.

_Well if you're going to be afraid, I _am _going to crash, _Xenos retorted sharply.

There was no reply, but the green bean didn't calm down. Sighing, the earth dragon stepped off the edge. Wings flapping furiously, they continued to fall.

The other dragons watched with humor as the changeling gripped onto his dragon's neck tightly in fear. Zarathustra chuckled softly, especially when Beast Boy grabbed Xenos's antennae.

The dragon squealed, legs pawing at the air as his wings flapped, head jerking as he tried to free his antennae.

_LET GO OR I CAN'T FLY! _He snarled.

Beast Boy released the antennae quickly and they shot straight up into the air. As they went vertical, he slipped off his dragon's back and began to fall. He began to jerk upward though as his dragon's vine-like tail gripped his arm, holding him in place.

Xenos hovered, still holding onto Beast Boy's arm as he leveled off. Shaken with fear, he clambered up the tail and back to his position.

_Never… do that again! _He wailed.

_Your fault. You grabbed my antennae and when you released them, I went straight up, which is what shouldn't have happened. If you hadn't of grabbed them in the first place, none of this would've occurred, _retorted the dragon.

_Fine, _Beast Boy hissed, holding tight onto his dragon's neck.

"Can we go now?" muttered Aedh impatiently.

"Oh, shut it together, idiot. He fell; what would you do if Robin fell off?" snapped Zarathustra.

Aedh glowered at the other dragon, while the boy wonder looked down at the ground. It was a long way off; what about if his grapple didn't catch onto anything, or if the dragons couldn't catch him? He gulped, looking ahead of him into his dragon's neck.

Without another word, Zarathustra turned, flapping off silently. As they flew over the water, Hytimjir't looked at it hopefully. Laetitia saw this and moved closer to the other she-dragon.

"Would you like me to carry Starfire so you can swim?" she offered softly, grinning. "I'm long enough and strong enough to carry both of them."

She motioned to the metallic man on her back. Nodding eagerly, the water dragon asked the alien something in their minds. Bobbing her head, Starfire floated off of her dragon onto Laetitia's back.

Grinning happily, the water dragon dove towards the water. She disappeared below the surface, swimming deep, but she could still see the others flying above. Her webbed feet easily propelled her fast through the water. Gills appeared on her neck and on her cheeks, webbing formed.

Her hair danced in the water as her tail flapped up and down silently. She kept pace with those flying, her wings tucked neatly against her sides so they wouldn't slow her down. When she saw the liquid coming to an end, she grumbled underwater before she shot out.

Her body dripping with water, she flapped her wings as her gills and the webbing on her cheeks disappeared.

Her feathers dry, she joined the others in flight, catching up to the electricity dragon.

"Have a nice swim?" she was greeted as Hytimjir't's Rider was transferred back.

"Yes," she answered.

"You are very wet, Hytimjir't," complained Starfire.

"Sorry, Star," she apologized, but didn't do anything about it.

In fact, she couldn't do anything about it. Beast Boy stared up at the sharp tail ahead of him, then the billowing cloak seated on the sharp, black dragon. He urged Xenos closer to the other dragon, but he stopped quickly.

_I can't get in that close without getting cut. If I stay a safe distance away though, you won't be able to talk, _he said.

_What? What makes you think I'd want to _talk? Beast Boy inquired.

_I can share your mind and thoughts, BB, _scoffed the earth dragon. _How about underneath Zarathustra?_

_Would you really?! _The changeling replied excitedly.

_Of course. Anything for you, _Xenos whispered with a grin.

He lowered down so that Zarathustra's tail wouldn't hit him and so that his talons wouldn't tear at his body. He was small enough that Zarathustra's wings didn't touch him when they flapped down and his wings didn't touch the darkness dragon when they moved. He flew faster, his wings flapping harder; he was the smallest dragon there and Zarathustra was the second biggest, but he had the largest wings.

Thus it was difficult for Xenos to fly faster than the other dragon, but he managed, slowing down to match his pace only when his head was below the black dragon's head.

"Hey, Ravey!" called the changeling, though his words were almost torn away by the wind.

A head looked over the dark shoulder to see the green bean grinning up at her with that canine grin. She groaned softly, receiving a chuckle from her dragon.

_What? _She snapped.

_Oh, it's just funny that you think he's cute, but at the same time he annoys you, _he chuckled.

_That's not funny and I do not think he's cute! _Raven retorted bitterly.

"Don't call me Ravey," she hissed at the changeling below her.

_Uh huh. Who are you trying to fool here: you, or I? _He questioned.

_I'm not trying to fool anyone, _she growled.

_Of course not. He annoys me as well with his innumerous horrid jokes. Besides, he talks to much, especially when he should keep his mouth shut, _was his mere reply.

She muttered under her breath, boring daggers into her dragon's neck.

"Fine, Rae-ven!" he answered sharply.

"Better," she whittled between clenched teeth. "Why did you come up here?"

Seeing that she was no longer looking at him, he returned his gaze to ahead of him. He tugged at his collar, thinking of an answer.

_Just tell her that you wanted to talk to her, _advised the green dragon.

_Easier said than done, dude, _he scoffed, pretending to choke.

"Um, no reason at all," he answered quickly, sparing a glance at the Goth.

"Good."

He almost fell off of Xenos at this response.

_Good, _chuckled Xenos. _That's a good one._

_Indeed it is, _put in another voice.

_Hey, dude. Who are you and how are you in my mind? _He accused bitterly.

There was a soft chuckle, not of Xenos, but of the other voice before the reply: _You do not remember me?_

_Garfield… _cautioned a wary Xenos.

_Yes, Garfield, you should know who I am, _hissed the voice humorously.

_Dudes, stop calling me that! And I do not know who you are! _The changeling retorted.

_All right, I'll give you a hint. Look up, _the voice answered.

Grumbling, the green bean did as advised; he gawked slightly at the answer.

_Zarathustra? _He breathed.

_Yours truly; who else? _The dragon inquired.

_How'd you get in here? _Beast Boy demanded.

_Isn't it obvious? _Those cold, red eyes flashed back to the changeling for a second before they flickered ahead of him. _Who is my Rider? Xenos has told me everything._

_XENOS! _Hissed the changeling bitterly.

_What? I just told him some things about you and your little _secret, the earth dragon answered innocently.

_How could you? Dude, that is so not cool. You like, invaded my personal privacy, _he muttered.

_No, not at all. You _accepted _him to enter your mind, remember, Beast Boy? Just as all the other Titans accepted us to their minds. That's not invading your personal privacy, _stated Zarathustra matter-of-factly.

_Well, mister know-it-all, why are you invading my privacy? You're not even my dragon! _Retorted the boy.

_Come on, BB, isn't it obvious. Anyways, I wanted to get to know you better. I'm sure Xenos wants to get to know Raven better as well; _he chuckled with a sly grin.

_Yes, indeed I do! _Chattered the earth dragon excitedly.

_Knew it._

_Yo, dude, I think I get what you're trying to get at and that is so not true! _Beast Boy replied, trying to defend himself.

_Sure, Beast Boy. Zarathustra, I'm sorry, but I do believe he wants you to leave, _Xenos murmured.

_I'm not leaving, _declared Zarathustra in a playful manner.

Without Beast Boy even doing anything, an unknown force was pushing at Zarathustra before protective walls came up. The dragon of darkness didn't even try to break them down, just left.

_Dude, what did you just do? _Inquired a puzzled changeling.

_Blocked him out, _Xenos replied with a grin. _I'm going over now. _

_Pervert, _hissed the green bean playfully, receiving a chuckle from his dragon before they broke contact.

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_Hello, Ravey, _interrupted an annoying, shrill voice.

_I'm not Ravey; it is Raven! _She hissed, not in the mood for games.

_Greetings, _Zarathustra greeted cheerily.

_Know who I am? _The voice said again.

_Do I really want to know? _She groaned.

_Yes, _the voice answered calmly.

_Xenos, _was her first answer.

_Lucky guess, _grumbled the dragon of earth.

_Not at all, Xenos. I warned her of your arrival, _Zarathustra spoke.

_You took away all the fun. I didn't tell Beast Boy you were coming, _whined Xenos.

_Your point is?_

_Never mind, _grumbled the green dragon.

_So, you're here to learn more about me. Well, your reason is not going to happen. Your fantasy is for you and you only. It will never be reality, _Raven snapped unpleasantly.

_You told her why I was coming? _Complained the other dragon.

_Not at all, Xenos. She figured it out for herself, _defended the black dragon.

_Smart girl, _praised the green dragon.

_Indeed, _commented Zarathustra.

_You can leave now, Xenos, _Raven ordered.

_Fine, _Xenos said, but though he acted as if he left, he didn't truly.

_Finally, _groaned the Goth.

_Calm yourself, Raven, _Zarathustra replied, knowing that the other dragon was still there, just staying quiet. _I know that you like Beast Boy anyways. You just won't admit it._

_Of course not, _she scoffed, though her voice wasn't convincing.

_Stop trying to fool yourself, Raven, _advised the dragon.

_I told you already, Zarathustra. I don't feel my emotions; if you have forgotten, they-_

_They are dangerous and can wreck havoc if you feel anything. But now you have me! _The black dragon answered excitedly.

_Your point? _She grumbled.

_You can _feel _you emotions now, since I am here. I can keep them at bay in your mind, in Nevermore while you feel, _he replied.

_Not going to happen, _she scoffed.

The black dragon chuckled and both he and Xenos broke contact with her at the same moment. Zarathustra shook his mighty head as he put on more speed. The other dragons; startled, yet not at all confused, followed, keeping pace with him.

"Hey, Zarathustra. Don't you think Robin and I should lead," suggested Aedh, flying up beside him now, while Xenos continued to flap below the black dragon.

Though Aedh was far away, his voice drifted to the other dragon easily. Red eyes narrowing, the darkness dragon glowered at the fire dragon.

"Why so?" he hissed.

"Well, Robin is the leader," retorted the fire dragon.

"Good point, but do you know where we're going?" snapped the darkness dragon.

"Well, no, not really," admitted the red dragon thoughtfully.

"Then wouldn't it make more sense for Raven and I to lead," snarled Zarathustra impatiently.

"Stop your senseless arguing," growled Raven, slapping the black dragon's neck hard.

He shuddered, flashing his gaze back to her.

"What do you propose we do then to solve our problem?" he inquired peacefully.

"Why not fly together; you _both _could lead us," she offered.

"Not a bad idea," he answered, agreeing.


	8. Hidden Secrets

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: The dragons got the Titans to come with them to save the world, but the dragons have no idea what's going to happen on the way and four of the teens don't even know that they're not going to be returning to the tower anytime soon. Xenos and Zarathustra are on another mission at the same time, but they're on their own. What will happen when the Titans find out they're not returning home and that they're going to save the entire world? Will Xenos and Zarathustra's mission be successful?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Sorry it took so long for this chapter to come up. The others will be slow as well, but please don't kill me. I have a lot of other things to do, such as school, outdoor sports, homework, practicing my guitar and flute, et cetra. Hey, this is my first Author's Note! Sweet!

Anyways, back to other matters. Please enjoy the chapter and review it to if you please. This would make me a very happy author and a happy author usually means longer chapters and faster updates. Well, for me it does. 3 Enjoy the chapter!

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The dragons had been flying for a long time now and the sun was beginning to set. They had stopped a few times for breaks to rest their wings and give their Riders food and water. By now the Titans were growing confused; they wanted to turn around now and go back to their tower, just in case a villain attacked the city. The police couldn't always stop the villains, especially since they had no powers.

"Uh, Aedh, shouldn't we be turning around now and going back to the tower?" asked an impatient boy wonder, squirming around on his dragon's back.

Aedh's eyes flickered back to his Rider and a soft grin appeared on his face. He refocused his gaze ahead of him, continuing to stay the same pace as the larger, black dragon beside him. He wasn't much smaller than the darkness dragon though, but he didn't have the same sharpness, or the same muscles as the other.

"I'm afraid we can't turn around, Robin," he said after a while, continuing to grin evilly.

"And why would that be?" snapped the male on his back.

"Well, I think it would be a lot easier if Raven just explained it to you all," Zarathustra put in sharply, grinning mockingly at his Rider.

She bored daggers into her dragon's neck and he could feel her tension. She stopped when she felt all eyes upon her and she began to grow nervous.

"Friend Raven; what is it that they are speaking of?" inquired the alien girl, who had her hands buried in her dragon's hair.

"Uh," she began slowly, glowering at her dragon again. "I had a dream."

"Prophecy, not a dream," corrected Zarathustra calmly, continuing to grin.

"All right, I had a _prophecy,_" she hissed.

She gave one final glare at the black dragon before she told them all about the prophecy. When she finished, they were gawking at her unbelievingly. Beast Boy ran a gloved hand through his forest green hair, sucking in a deep breath.

"Whoa," he muttered. "That's dark, dude. So very dark."

The green dragon beneath him chuckled deeply, his entire body trembling. The changeling could feel his dragon's throat rumbling beneath his hands, so he lifted them off the green neck. His body began to vibrate, only stopping when Xenos's laugh ended.

"Dude, what's so funny?" the changeling inquired, hurt slightly by his dragon's laughter.

"Nothing, just your response," was the meek answer before the earth dragon quivered slightly again as he stifled yet another chuckle.

The green boy grumbled, crossing his arms tightly. He narrowed his eyes, not focusing on anything.

"Hey, you know I was just kidding around, BB," came a rumbling apology from the earth dragon. "I'm sorry I hurt your feelings, if I have done so."

His green eyes flickered back to his Rider, who was now regarding him. Arms unfolding, he nodded slowly, his gaze softening. He patted Xenos's shoulder gently.

"Apology accepted, dude, but you didn't hurt my feelings," he answered, grinning now.

"Oh, so I didn't hurt your feelings? Looked that way to me," joked the dragon, but when he got a scowl from his Rider, he shut up fast.

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By now the sun had disappeared behind the horizon. The dragons had landed for the night in a clearing surrounded by trees. Their scales shimmered in the moonlight as they huddled close together, their Riders leaning against their sides, shielded by their wings. Or, in Cyborg's case, Laetitia's tail.

Beast Boy yawned, stretching. He blinked a couple of times before he looked around the group; no one was paying attention to anyone else. Only he was.

"Hey, dudes, what's going to happen back at Jump City?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"I got the Titans East to cover for us while we're gone. Nothing really happens in the east, so they agreed to go," the metallic man answered lazily.

The changeling nodded, mouthing an 'Oh.' Leaving it at that, he lay down, curling up beneath one of Xenos's wings until realization struck him. He bolted upright, glancing around.

"Uh, dudes, what happens if it starts raining?" he inquired warily, eyes jumping from each Titan and dragon.

"Then you and Cy get wet," Raven muttered in her normal monotone voice, not even sparing a glance his way.

The green boy glowered at the female, narrowing his gaze. He grumbled bitterly, but the Goth never noticed; she still wasn't looking his way. Instead, she was staring at the ground before her. Continuing to grumble, he lay down beside his dragon underneath a leaf.

"Hey, don't worry, BB. If it rains, I can always get some rocks to cover you, or I could bury you. My wings just block the wind… well, sort of, I guess," Xenos joked softly, grinning slightly.

"Makes me feel so much better, dude," Beast Boy answered sarcastically, though there was a small smile on his face.

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After a while, all the Titans were asleep, as well as all the dragons-save for Zarathutra and Xenos, who had been anticipating this. Their tails had been twitching with impatience until all of the dragons and Riders had fallen into a steady slumber.

When the others had finally fallen asleep, they exchanged glances before they grinned. Zarathustra poked Hytimjir't lightly with a claw. The water dragon raised her head slowly, stifling a yawn. Her eyelids drooped low and her eyes were lazy.

_What? _She inquired telepathically, not wanting to wake anyone with her voice.

_Can you do me a favor? _The male questioned, ignoring her.

She gave him an odd gaze before she cocked her head. Her jaws opened slightly.

_Depends… _she began, before continuing: _Like what?_

_Like taking Raven for me so I can leave, _he sighed impatiently.

_Leave to where? _She continued.

_None of your business, _he snapped, but when she went to go back to sleep, he sighed. _Sorry. I'll tell you when I get back, okay?_

_Sure, whatever, _she grumbled softly before she moved over to the large dragon.

Starfire didn't seem to notice, just continued to sleep as her dragon left. The two dragons switched places swiftly so Raven wouldn't notice the change before Zarathustra pushed the alien towards her dragon. Hytimjir't covered them with her wings, nodding.

Those cold, red eyes glanced at Xenos, who was waiting for him. He had left his Rider sleeping on the ground; he was snoring and drool was dripping from his open jaws. Disgusted, Zarathustra glared at the boy before he joined the earth dragon.

Together, they took flight, flying high in the starry sky. They grinned softly at each other.

"Well, Xenos, what do you think?" the black dragon inquired, knowing no one could hear them.

"I think that it'll happen after we defeat the enemy," the green dragon squealed softly.

"I sure hope so. It'll be about time anyways," grumbled Zarathustra with a grin.

"Yes, indeed so."

Leaving it at that, the two flew on in silence before Xenos spoke again.

"We should probably catch something, so you can fool Hytimjir't. Besides, then we won't have to hunt in the morning. We can just eat and we can be off. It'll be a lot faster," suggested the green dragon thoughtfully.

"I agree entirely with that logic. The sooner we reach our destination, the better. Then we can save the elves and humans, be heroes and heroines ourselves-mind our Riders, who already _are _heroes and heroines-and hopefully they'll get together. We'll make sure of that," agreed a devious black dragon, bobbing his head.

They split up, each going their separate ways. They met up in the sky later; Zarathustra had two bucks and a moose in his talons, while Xenos had a very plump doe, another buck and another moose.

"Good hunting," commented Xenos, nodding at Zarathustra's prey.

"Thanks, you two," the other dragon answered.

In the time that they had spent together-which had been quite a long time-the two had grown to be good friends, even if they didn't care too much for each other's Riders. Xenos had an annoying idiot and Zarathustra had a cold, grouchy half-demon. They didn't mind the Riders anymore, knowing a secret that many others didn't know.

"So, what's Beast Boy going to eat instead of the food we've collected?" Zarathustra inquired in the silence between them as they flew, their prey dangling from separate talons.

Xenos chuckled softly, giving the black dragon a sly smirk before he answered: "Well, as you know, I didn't tell him to bring any tofu. So-much like what he did yesterday-he won't eat anything, or I'll get him to eat grass and leaves."

At this, the two began to laugh, their entire bodies rumbling. They hushed after a few seconds of this, grinning joyfully as they flew. Their wings beat the air silently as they flapped in the night sky before they glided, coming closer to the camp. They circled overhead the camp a couple of times just to make sure no one had woken up before they landed a little ways off.

Their claws made no sound as they landed, which is what they had hoped would occur. They strode quietly back to the others. They chuckled together silently at the sight of the green changeling; he still lay on the ground, unmoved, still snoring, still drooling. His leg twitched like a dying fly that had just been hit.

They exchanged quick glances with each other before Xenos picked up the limp Beast Boy. The boy never woke up though, not even when he was plopped back down and was lying against his dragon's scales. The earth dragon continued to grin as he curled his neck around, closing his eyes.

Zarathustra, on the other hand, had a harder job. Anything could wake up the Goth; any slight movement or noise, but at least she hadn't woken up yet. Neither had Starfire; Hytimjir't was sleeping contentedly, but she woke up lazily when the darkness dragon made psychic contact with her.

She raised her head groggily, blinking the sleep from her eyes slowly. She eyed the large dragon before she let out a silent yawn.

_Back already? What did you do? _She inquired softly.

_I hunted, _he simply replied, motioning to the pile he had Xenos had made when they returned and landed; it was exactly where they had landed, unmoved and untouched.

_How the hell did you manage to carry six pieces of prey? Your tail? _She hissed disbelievingly.

_No, Xenos helped. Besides, you wouldn't know if I made more than one trip, _he shot icily, glowering at the female.

_Fine, _she snarled bitterly, returning the cold stare.

_Thank you; you may leave now, _he said, motioning to the sleeping half-demon.

Grumbling silently, the water dragon slipped out just as Zarathsutra slipped in. Still-thankfully-Raven did not awaken. Hytimjir't picked up her Rider slowly, carrying her back to the place they had been sleeping at before. She flopped down, placing the alien princess on her side beneath her wing before she lowered her head to sleep.

Happy with this, the black dragon finally lowered his head, allowing sleep to consume him like a heavy door.

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Zarathustra jolted awake when he felt his Rider shuffling beneath his wing. His body quivered when she poked the membrane, an obvious sign that she wanted out. Yawning lazily, he lifted his wing, allowing the girl to step out into the small sunlight. She stared at him, taking him in before she looked at the pile of prey.

_Where did that come from? _She asked, almost innocently, though he could taste the suspicion.

_Uh, I caught it last night while you were asleep, _he said, not lying once to his Rider.

In fact, nothing could ever bring him to lie to her. He didn't know why, but something compelled him not to. Just like him last night though, Raven asked the same question.

_And what is Beast Boy going to eat? That? _She taunted softly.

_Nope, _the black dragon answered with a grin. _Xenos is going to give him some grass and leaves for his breakfast;, whenever he wakes up, that is._

Raven grinned softly as well, but her smile faded quickly.

_Okay, I have another question. If the other dragons are afraid of getting cut by you, how come I'm never hurt? _She questioned peacefully.

_You bear the mark of me, thus you are not harmed, _he answered simply, yawning again, receiving a small glare from his Rider.

_What about before you cursed me with it? _She snapped.

He seemed taken aback by her comment, but he continued to smile, nonetheless.

_I didn't want to harm you, so I didn't allow my body to be harmful to anyone. Except my tail, that is. That's why I cut that green boy so easily, _he answered, his grin widening as he recalled that day.

She didn't answer to this. She just continued to stare at him, as if expecting him to continue. So he did.

_You see, all dragons have a protective coat around them. I have sharpness; Laetitia has electricity; Aedh has heat; Hytimjir't has coldness and Xenos has nothing. Before, we never allowed these to take place. But now, since we're on our journey, we're going to need them. We all hurt to touch, except Xenos. The only places that don't hurt are beneath our elbows and legs and the top of our head, _he said. _Of course, someone could easily break through our protective coating. They must have the element of our weakness though. Laetitia's weakness is eart, Xenos's is fire, Aedh's is water and Hytimjir't's is electricity._

Raven continued to regard him, her mind taking in all of this. He could feel the knowledge building in her mind, so he continued.

_Mine is light. Anyways, you noticed when Xenos couldn't fly properly, correct? Well, all dragons have a spot where their Rider's can control them. Xenos's Rider uses his antennae, Aedh's uses the claws at the sides of his cheeks, Hytimjir't's uses her hair, Laetitia's is a specific scale and mine is my horns. Of course, the others-apart from Beast Boy-don't know of this yet, for the others have not told them yet. So, if you ever wish to control the flying, just grab my horns, although I don't think you'd want to do that. Just leave the flying to me; you do the attacking with me though, _he said.

Raven nodded slowly, noting that he was finished telling her more information. She ran the gathered information through her mind to make sure she'd remember them, then nodded to him again.

_All right, thank you, _she murmured slowly, blinking as she looked at the prey. _Damn, I wish you'd told me we were taking this journey. I could've brought herbal tea._

Zarathustra grinned slowly, used to his Rider's complaints by now. He bobbed his head happily, closing his eyes.

_Your welcome, Raven, although I didn't want you to tell the others. Besides, I did tell you before we left. You could've just as easily gone back inside and collected it, _he mocked softly.

She bored daggers into her dragon, her violet eyes glowing bitterly.

_Shut up, _she hissed, turning away sharply.

The black dragon continued to smirk with a taunting gaze looking at her back. He nudged her shoulder lightly, but she didn't respond at all to this. This didn't seem to bother the large, calm, yet icy and bitter dragon, so the duo just stood there, waiting for the others to wake so they could eat and continue onward with their journey.


	9. Swallow Your Pride

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

Lyrics from Fort Minor's _The Hard Way._

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: The dragons revealed their secret destination and land to rest. While the others sleep, Xenos and Zarathustra head off to work on their silent and reserved mission. When Raven woke up, she demanded answers from a guilty Zarathustra, who told her only part of the truth. What dangers await them in their journey? Will Beast Boy actually eat grass and leaves? What of Zarathustra and Xenos's mission? Will it be a success, or an outrage?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Okay now, I'm here to clear up things. Put down those chairs this instant! Anyways, I thought that people would enjoy Beast Boy eating grass and leaves. 3

I've decided I haven't spent enough time working on this story, thus I shall pause _Crimson Fangs _until this story finishes. Then I can finish _Crimson Fangs _and when I do, I can begin to work on both of their sequels.

All right, time to stop talking. Just read the chapter and review please if you want. If you do review, I'd like to know if you liked it, loved it, hated it, or loathed it. Be honest now!

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"Just eat it already, Beast Boy!" snapped an impatient green dragon, his vine-like tail twitching irritably. "We need to leave _now_!"

He dug his sharp talons into the ground, leaving deep gouges in the soft earth as he glared at his Rider. The green changeling sat stubbornly, glaring at the grass and leaves piled before him as if in a salad. He was shaking his head, glowering at the 'salad.'

"No way, dude, I am not eating that!" he decided sharply, turning away from it.

"Well, it's either that or meat," hissed Xenos, glancing at his equally impatient companions.

A soft sigh was barely heard to the earth dragon's ears, but he managed to hear it and note that it came from Zarathustra and Raven. He couldn't fully make out the sigh though, but he was sure it came from the Goth.

"I pick neither, dude; there, we can go now!" Beast Boy retorted, standing up sharply.

"Oh no, you're not leaving until you eat meat, or that. I'm not going to have to fly and worry about you falling off from fatigue due to hunger. And I am surely not going to waste my energy using vines to hold you on. Now eat it, or I'll force you to eat one or the other; most likely the meat," he threatened.

The others had already eaten, including the small dragon, but he had saved a small amount of meat from his deer just in case Beast Boy chose not to eat the grass and leaves. Xenos tried hard to keep a straight face as he eyed the leaves and grass; he had secretly plucked a leaf with a caterpillar on it so that he could see his Rider's face when he ate it.

That is, _if _he ate it, which looked to be a fairly good odd. The green dragon bobbed his head with pleasure as his Rider shot him a nasty glare before he crouched down.

"Eat it all, or it is meat for you," taunted the green dragon, grinning deviously.

Grumbling with disgust, he scooped up a pile of leaves and grass, shoving it in his mouth swiftly. He grimaced at the taste, wanting to spit it out. His hand quivered beneath his glove as he went to chew, but stopped suddenly.

Something was moving in his mouth.

Scowling, he opened his jaws, sticking some fingers in his mouth. They fished around the leaves and grass for a bit until they emerged. A fuzzy caterpillar was wiggling fast, frightened about being eaten.

The changeling closed his jaws, swallowing the 'salad' without thinking. He dropped to his knees, allowing the caterpillar to squirm away. Chuckles rose from the group, although Raven and Zarathustra stayed silent, not even sparing a glance his way. They knew Xenos's evil plan though; the green dragon had told them.

"Dude, that's not funny!" he yelped, glaring at the trembling dragon before him. "You tried to get me to eat a caterpillar!"

At this, Starfire couldn't control her laughter; Cyborg, Laetitia, Robin, Aedh and Xenos joined not long after. By now, Raven and her black dragon were stifling small laughs, managing not so easily.

"It's not like I tried to get a leaf with a caterpillar on it," lied the earth dragon, giving his Rider a small smirk. "Besides, you should be more careful before you eat."

Muttering, the green teen cursed below his breath before the Riders mounted and they took off.

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"Xenos has some humor; do you agree?" Zarathustra inquired as they flew beside Aedh in the front.

He glanced over his shoulder before he slowed, allowing Aedh to take the lead and the others to pass him. He enjoyed the back; the others broke the wind for him and that way he could scout for danger. Not to mention he could converse with his Rider vocally with more privacy than in the front.

"Well, he's a lot better than Beast Boy, but he's still got a long way to go," she muttered, not taking her eyes from ahead of her.

"Oh Raven, what the hell is your problem?" snapped Zarathustra, glaring at her from the corners of his red eyes.

"What do you mean?" she asked icily, returning the cold glare.

"Don't give me that. You know exactly what I know, Raven. Why can't you just admit it?" he hissed, flashing visions through her mind.

Her shoulders slumped slightly, her heart wanting to give in, but her mind didn't let go. It pushed back harder, forcing her grip to tighten.

_Come with me  
Let me walk in through the world that I currently stay in  
You can take a look around and tell me if I'm mistaken  
You can even talk to everybody that I live with  
Maybe you could tell me why everybody's so distant_

"Admit what?" her mind forced her to say and she knew she didn't want to take it back.

"Your hidden feelings? Your secrets? You don't have to tell anybody other than me, Raven. Why bother lying to me when I know everything about you?" he snapped.

The Goth ignored this, boring daggers into the earth far below. She shifted her clothes in her other arm, feeling the fur trim brush against her bare legs. Her body quivered lightly as she tried hard to conceal her emotions, pushing them away deeper into her mind.

A searing pain ripped through her back and her body slammed against Zarathustra's neck. His spikes didn't affect the female when she made impact, but her back hurt. The dragon's large, bat-like wings snapped frantically at the air, but he couldn't stop himself.

The duo began to fall and nothing the black dragon could do would help. Warily turning her head, the Goth's eyes widened slightly. A grin of cold malice was staring down at her from a pitch black face. Its golden eyes burned with nothing but hatred.

The creature had balanced itself on the dragon's back, somehow not affected by Zarathustra's outer armor. Well, the armor _was _working; Raven could see blood dribbling from its large paws, but it didn't show any pain whatsoever.

It scraped its claws on the hard scales, but they didn't cut through, or even leave a small scratch. The creature could barely even fit on the large dragon and it crawled towards the girl slowly.

_Raven, _a small voice said in her head.

The creature's tail lashed at the dragon before it snaked below the dragon's body. The sharp tail slashed at the weak spots; just below Zarathustra's legs. When the tail jerked back up, Raven could see blood falling from it, staining her dragon's black scales.

The black dragon quivered in pain before his red eyes glanced up at the other dragons that were steadily flying away. He parted his jaws, screaming out in pain, but mostly to call them back so they wouldn't leave.

They hovered, confused before they turned around to spot the large dragon plummeting at a terrifying speed towards the earth. Their eyes locked onto Zarathustra's attacker and they immediately sped towards dragon and Rider.

_Raven, hold on; don't be afraid. Do not let go and do not let it grab you, _the voice hissed in her mind, trying to grow stronger, though it never hid the pain.

_Is it me or maybe, when I look around daily  
I don't even know the people I can put my trust in lately  
People that I used to hang with now their actin' to different  
I'm still the same person why doesn't anybody listen _

Before Raven could even say anything, the dragon's tail rose up high. His body snapped upwards violently, almost throwing the Goth from her dragon's back. She clung onto his spikes, not wanting to fall for fear of falling and getting caught in those menacing claws.

She shuddered at the thought, looking back at the creature. It was puzzled, but it still held on. That was, until Zarathustra's body began to jerk violently and he spun, wings curving in. He was taking a sharp nose dive towards the earth before he flipped, spreading his wings. His back facing the ground, the creature fell with a roar.

Raven continued to look at it upside-down, regarding it as it began to fly towards them angrily.

_What is it? _She asked her dragon, trying to hide her fear.

_A creature of darkness; powerful and merciful less, _he answered sharply, not looking back.

He rolled so he was flying forward before he spun, flying the way they were supposed to go. The other dragons had stopped their assault, hovering in place, once again confused.

"Go!" bellowed the black dragon, picking up speed, knowing that his pursuer was gaining.

The four dragons spun sharply, flying away.

_Why don't we fight them? _Raven asked.

_Normally we would, but it's not safe to fight them here, _he replied.

_Not safe? _She inquired, taken aback slightly by this comment.

_There are more somewhere nearby. Can you not sense their presence, or see them; of course not… no, you certainly cannot see them, _he said, shaking his mighty head as he caught up to the others.

"Fly faster, idiots," he snarled from behind.

…_More? _She questioned, frightened slightly by this.

_A lot more, _he hissed.

Suddenly a dark lightning bolt struck from the clouds above. It hit Xenos in the head before his body jolted in violent spasms. The electricity coursed through his veins until it hit his Rider.

The earth dragon fought to stay flying, fought to stay conscious. His Rider was already knocked out and he didn't want to fall to their death. He couldn't though. His eyelids drooped before he fell from the sky in front of the Goth and darkness dragon.

Xenos's wings curled limply and he looked like a bird that had been shot clear from the sky. Neither could stop them from falling, nor pull up from their nosedive as they plummeted sharply towards the earth below.

"Beast Boy!" Raven cried sharply, feeling a wave of emotions.

_Knew it, _Zarathustra thought triumphantly, hearing Raven's concern and emotions.

He read her thoughts quickly and before she could do more, he was diving towards them. His dive was collected though and they were falling faster than the free-falling duo. Somehow Beast Boy managed to stay on his dragon; perhaps since his dragon's neck seemed to cup him in place.

As the dragon of darkness dove to the rescue, the other three were attacked in the air, but he couldn't do anything to help. He could hear Starfire's shrill cry of fear and surprise, but he ignored it, focusing on saving the falling dragon and Rider and calming his Rider's powers.

The changeling seemed almost dead as they neared. Allowing his protective armor to close so he wouldn't harm the dragon and Rider when he grabbed them, Zarathustra reached out.

He retracted his open talons sharply when fangs snapped at his legs.

_Can somebody please just explain to me  
What happened to the way that we always said we'd be  
Right now I dunno why I push through the pain that I got through  
And I'm losin' hope_

Raven's heart seemed to break down at the sight of the changeling and dragon as they neared the earth closer, but the creature of darkness wouldn't let them pass. It snapped at Zarathustra's unarmored body, taking this to its advantage. The black dragon couldn't stop the creature and bring up his protective coating, so he left himself unarmored as he dodged the flailing teeth and claws.

Claws met with the black dragon's mighty shoulder. They dug into the scales, slicing into his flesh. Letting out a bellow of anger, he slashed at the creature bitterly, not showing any mercy. Down below the dragon and Rider had made hard impact.

Upon hitting the earth, the green teen had flown from his dragon's back to a little ways off, but he was mostly unharmed. As for the earth dragon… well, that was a different story.

But still the creature wouldn't let them pass. So Zarathustra flapped upwards in hopes of escaping the creature and flying around it. As he flew, he brought back his protective armor, feeling Raven's body trembling.

He knew she was crying; crying for the small, green changeling below.

_Deafening voices  
That frequency inside my head that says  
I'm going at it the hard way I focus  
Get everything inside out of my brain that claims  
I'm going at it the hard way_

The creature appeared before them, using teleportation. It grinned cruelly, but the dragon slashed at it with his fangs. Upon impact, blood was shed. Raven forced her head to raise, the remnants of her tears visible. But nonetheless, she helped her dragon fight the battle.

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_Beast Boy, _a small voice whimpered softly.

The green changeling rubbed his head before his body quivered slightly from the remainder of the shock. He blinked his eyes, trying to find the voice, but he could barely support himself.

The only other thing he found was his dragon lying in a crumpled heap in a hole.

_Xenos! _He whispered, blinking furiously.

The dragon moved slowly, each movement filled with pain and agony. The dragon groaned softly.

_We… we need to find… shelter, _the dragon managed, his voice quivering.

_How? _Whispered the boy.

_The cave… the cave, BB. Help me to it, where I can rest, _he murmured, dropping his head.

_How can I help you? _Beast Boy inquired, his voice trembling.

_Become a dragon… then you can help me. I need help so I can help you, _breathed the small voice before the dragon lowered his head.

The teen nodded his head slowly before he closed his eyes. His body morphed into a dragon and he felt new strength surging through his pained body. It took away some of the pain, but it couldn't stop everything.

He waddled over to his dragon, nudging him softly.

"Don't just stand there; pick me up," the dragon managed slowly.

Nodding grimly, he heaved his dragon onto his back after a while of trying. He slithered towards the cavern his dragon had pointed out, his body aching under the weight of the small dragon.

He reached the cave, dropping his dragon gently to the ground inside of it before he morphed back. He was breathing heavy, trying to close his eyes to regain himself, but he couldn't. Something forced his eyes to stay open.

_Come with me  
Let me walk in through the world that I currently live in  
Not a thing is forgotten, not a thing is forgiven  
Nobody can hold their own underneath the weight but  
Nobody can take the blame for their own mistakes so_

He could hear the sounds of a fight going on outside, but he could barely pay attention. His dragon was barely breathing, his body still quivering in spasms.

_What do you do when somebody lets you down  
And you wanna say something but you can't cause their not around  
Inside you think they know the extent of the pain  
But they won't even admit that they were the one to blame_

He glanced slowly out the cave entrance, just in time to see a black body slam against the ground. His heart began to beat faster, thinking that it was Zarathustra, crushing Raven.

_Raven, no, _he thought, but was reassured when he saw the dragon's large body slam down on the creature.

The Goth's eyes were glowing white and her hands were enveloped in a black aura. Zarathustra and his Rider never noted the changeling in the cave; they never saw him, for the matter.

The black dragon's jaws parted to reveal a ball of dark energy. Dark electricity coursed through it and the ball grew. It flew out at the creature, its eyes widening.

Beast Boy flinched upon hearing the explosion. Rocks began to fall, blocking the entrance to the cave.

_NO! _Was his only thought.

_Can somebody please just explain to me  
What happened to the way that we always said we'd be  
Cause right now I dunno why I push through the pain that I got through  
And I'm losin' hope_

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Zarathustra leapt up from the limp body beneath his talons. He took to the air, flying high. His body was bleeding, but he didn't show his pain.

_You just killed it; I didn't think you were a murderer, _Raven accused.

_Yeah, well, here it's kill, or be killed. Besides, when we help the elves, we'll _have _to kill, _he retorted, out of breath.

_We need to find Beast Boy, _Raven decided sharply and when he gave her an odd look, she added in: _And Xenos._

Nodding slowly, almost weakly, Zarathustra turned, diving towards the ground. He leveled out, his tail almost scraping the ground. His keen eyes caught sight of the imprint left from Xenos. He glided towards it, slowing to allow Raven to take it in.

Her body quivered upon his back. They flew around for a bit longer, but their search turned up nothing.

_Can somebody please just explain to me  
What happened to the way that we always said we'd be  
Right now I dunno why I push through the pain that I got through  
And I'm losin' hope, give me one reason not to_

Zarathustra let out a sigh, joining the others that were circling overhead now.

"Anything?" Robin called, his voice wavering as he feared the worst.

Raven looked down at the ground, swallowing a lump in her throat. Zarathustra felt her emotions again and helped to control her powers. He knew that it would be best if he answered for both of them. He shook his head slowly.

"No, nothing at all," he admitted.

"Then we just have to leave," snapped Aedh.

"What?" Raven growled bitterly, glaring at the fire dragon, who sneered at her.

"You heard me. If we don't leave, then we risk having the entire army there dying. We can't waste anymore time here if we can't find the green bean and his dragon," hissed Aedh. "Besides, they'll catch up."

The boy wonder looked worried, glancing from his dragon to the angry Raven.

"Raven, we have to go," Robin finally declared. "Aedh's right. Our mission is to save the world. The longer we stay, the longer the enemy has to control the world and kill innocent lives. We have to leave."

Though he said it gently, it pained Raven. She bowed her head, not moving. Her hood still covered her face.

"All right," Zarathustra said for the both of them.

With one more glance back, Raven stared down at the ground, hoping to see the green boy and his dragon come crawling out from somewhere and join them. She had lost all hope though, especially when that place drew out of view.

She refocused her attention on her mission ahead, trying to push back the reason she hated herself. She pushed back everything except her mission and duty. She had to do this and Zarathustra would help her. No matter what the cost.


	10. Carry On

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

Lyrics are from My Chemical Romance's _Welcome To The Black Parade._

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: When creatures of darkness attack the group, Xenos and Beast Boy are taken down. After a battle, the dragons search, but they come back empty-handed. They are forced to choose between friendship and destiny, but when they chose destiny, what will happen? Will Beast Boy and Xenos reunite with the others?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Well, to clear things up, people wanted Beast Boy to eat grass and leaves. They also wanted Xenos to put a _worm _in with the grass and leaves. So, to cater to them, Beast Boy did eat the grass and leaves and almost ate a _caterpillar, _not a _worm._

Please, don't kill me for making Xenos be so mean to his Rider. Trust me, the dragons and Riders will get better together as the story progresses. Especially in the sequel. Now, what are you waiting for? Read the chapter and tell me if you loved it, liked it, hated it, or loathed it.

Remember to be honest with me. I won't be sad, or angry, or kill any of you. I enjoy hearing people's opinions about my stories. So review away, peps!

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The changeling blinked warily, gazing at the rocks. A feeling of dread and worry filled his body and his mind panicked. He wanted to throw himself at the rocks and rip them apart, but he knew he didn't have the strength left.

But how would they escape if both he and the dragon weren't strong enough. He glanced behind him at his small dragon and a pang of regret hit him hard in the chest. He swallowed the lump in his throat; his dragon seemed to be dying slowly.

"Xenos?" he breathed softly, fighting back the tears.

He hated himself for letting his dragon be hit so easily. He should've been paying more attention to him, instead of focusing on saving his own skin. How he regretted not paying attention to the sky and warning Xenos of the oncoming danger.

Even Raven and Zarathustra had seen the approaching danger before him! Even they had tried to save them, while he had sat paralyzed in shock for a while before the electricity had even hit him.

There were small burns on the green dragon's head and his left antenna had been charred near the spot where it joined his head.

He sighed softly in relief when the earth dragon raised his head slowly, groaning with the effort. His green eyes rested heavily on his Rider and he managed a small grin before he lowered his head.

"Good to know you… haven't been harmed badly," Xenos rasped slowly, closing his eyes again.

His breaths were short and shallow. The changeling feared for his dragon's life, crawling over towards him.

"Together, we are strong," the earth dragon reminded him when he felt his dragon hug his neck.

Beast Boy looked up slowly, nodding. He felt as if he were in a dream.

"I'm so sorry, dude," he whispered, stroking his dragon's scales. "I shoulda paid more attention. Instead I was intent on saving myself and now look at the consequence."

"Don't beat yourself up… BB. It's not your fault," the dragon murmured, raising a heavy eyelid slowly. "You could've been hurt. _I _should've been paying more attention to the… creatures. Instead, I was keen on flying away to save us."

The green teen's hand froze and he felt worse. He knew he should've been trying to save him and Xenos, but at the time he had been so fearful that his primal instinct had been to flee. Flight, instead of fight.

_When I was a young boy, _

_My father took me into the city _

_To see a marching band_

"Now… are you going to help me?" questioned the dragon softly, wheezing as his body shook in more spasms.

All the electricity hadn't been drained from his body. The green boy nodded eagerly, morphing into an electric eel. He touched his dragon's neck with his nose, absorbing the electricity from his body before he changed back into himself.

"Not like that, but that feels… good," breathed the dragon, grinning softly. "But there is nothing else you can do like that."

"Then what can I do, dude? I wanna help ya," the shape-shifter whined.

_Like this, _his dragon's voice echoed in his mind.

_He said, _

_"Son when you grow up, will you be the savior of the broken, _

_The beaten and the damned?"_

_By joining minds? _Beast Boy inquired in his dragon's mind.

He remembered feeling the knowledge and cramped space in his dragon's mind before, but now it seemed empty and hollow. As if the electricity had drained his mind of everything. The space seemed so vast now, but at least some of it remained occupied.

_Yes, just like that. Together, we are strong, BB, _Xenos said, breathing a gentle sigh of relief.

_Anything else that I can do? _The green teen questioned, wanting to do everything he could to help Xenos.

_Yes, you could: by staying by my side and waiting, but not talking and thinking to me. Vocalizing with you takes up much of my strength, the strength I need to keep going, if we are to ever catch up with the others, _the mere reply was, followed by a gentle chuckle.

_You got it, dude, _Beast Boy answered, continuing to stroke his dragon's neck.

He had a feeling it would be a while before his dragon finished healing. Not to mention an even longer time for them to take flight. Especially since their only exit was blocked off, all thanks to Zarathustra.

_"Will you defeat them, your demons, and all the non believers, the plans that they have made?" _

_Because one day I leave you, _

_A phantom to lead you in the summer, _

_To join the black parade"_

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Beast Boy jolted awake, blinking furiously. His keen eyesight forced itself hard to see in the darkness. He rubbed his eyes, trying to remember where he was and what had happened.

He shifted to feel a soft nose nudging his side lightly. He turned his head to yelp, but when he looked into those calm, gentle green eyes, he sighed out happily.

He grinned his famous grin, hugging his dragon's neck.

"Dude! You're okay!" he yelled with glee, tears of happiness streaming down his face.

"Of course I'm okay, BB. I had to be," the dragon breathed, nuzzling his Rider softly. "I couldn't leave you so soon. I had to pull through, although my head still hurts and is probably going to hurt for a while."

"Are you sure there's nothing more I can do for you?" the changeling inquired, slightly worried.

"No, but at least we can continue on now," Xenos answered excitedly.

"Continue?" the green teen breathed, eyes widening.

"Of course. We need to, or else we'll die in here," he answered, continuing to nuzzle the green boy. "Besides, I'll protect you. It's better for me to die than for you to die, or for both of us to die."

_Sometimes I get the feeling she's watching over me. _

_And other times I feel like I should go_

_Through it all, the rise and fall, the bodies in the streets_

_When you're gone we want you all to know we'll carry on, _

_We'll carry on_

Beast Boy slumped down, feeling bad and guilty all over again.

"I don't know how I could live without you, Beast Boy," Xenos continued softly, licking his Rider's messy, forest green hair. "Besides, a dragon's goal in life is to protect their Rider with their life if necessary."

"Dude, how can you say that after you almost died?" the changeling breathed, his heart pounding faster.

"To inform you before I left this world," the green dragon replied, taken aback by Beast Boy's words. "Now come on, we need to get out of here. The faster we do, the faster we can eat… well, at least the faster we go, the faster we'll get there so _you _can eat tofu."

_Hopefully, _the dragon added silently, keeping this comment to himself.

"Is that all you think about, Xenos; food?" teased the green boy, rising to his feet.

His dragon smirked, nodding happily. They moved towards the rocks slowly, as if in a dream. The dragon tapped the rocks lightly before the changeling morphed into a gorilla.

He picked up rock by rock, tossing them into the darkness of the cave. Xenos continued to regard the rocks, sending them backwards with his powers.

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After a while, they had cleared the entrance and Beast Boy slumped down, breathing heavy. He wiped the back of his hand over his forehead, closing his eyes with fatigue.

"You okay?" the dragon asked, worried.

He nodded, blinking a couple of times.

"Just out of breath."

Xenos nudged him softly and he felt his breath returning. When he was refreshed, he rose, following his dragon out of the cavern. Once outside, the earth dragon squeaked in delight, spreading his wings happily and flapping them.

Being cooped up in the cavern with no room had caused his wings to cramp up, as well as his other joints. He moved his limbs testily to get them working again and have the blood flowing through them before he nodded.

"Okay, I think I'm good now to fly," he chattered, stomping on the ground.

"Fly already; I don't know," Beast Boy murmured, lowering his eyes.

"Well, it's the only way to get there and you need to eat, so I have to do it," the dragon decided selflessly, causing the green boy to look up quickly.

It was then that he realized what this proud, powerful and selfless dragon would do just for him. He regretted ever getting angry at him, especially when his dragon was younger and still learning. Now all he could think about was a way to help his dragon and repay the debt that his dragon would never force upon him.

"I'm sorry about the grass and leaves, two," Xenos apologized, nudging his Rider out of his trance. "I just knew that you needed to eat and I didn't want anything to happen to you."

Again, the boy felt guilty, dipping his head.

"No, it's not your fault, dude," he answered, climbing onto his dragon's back slowly before he slipped off again. "Are you sure you can fly? I can fly alongside you until…"

"No, you need to conserve your energy," the dragon answered, pushing him onto his back again gently. "Let me handle the flying."

"Handle the flying," fumed the boy, rubbing the back of his head thoughtfully.

The dragon flapped his wings before he pushed hard. He barely lifted off the ground before he fell back down, panting slightly.

"You sure?" Beast Boy persisted, only to receive a determined nod.

"I will fly," announced Xenos proudly, lifting into the air.

Again, he didn't get high, but a couple more flaps got him to where he would be usually. He circled to get higher and to get used to flying, his eyes staring up at the starry, moonlit sky.

This allowed the green changeling to think about what his dragon had said. He racked his brains to find an answer to his question pertaining to what Xenos had spoken. Then he remembered something important.

When he had grabbed his dragon's antennae, they couldn't fly up and when he let go, they shot straight up. Not to mention Xenos had told him to let go because he couldn't fly. What was so important about those antennae?

"Hey, Xenos, can I ask you something?" inquired the green teen.

His dragon nodded slowly.

"Sure, ask away," he huffed, trying not to show everything.

Beast Boy scowled, but he didn't say anything. He knew no matter what he said, his dragon would do anything to carry him across the earth to their destination. No matter what the cost would be.

_Though you're dead and gone believe me your memory will carry on _

_Carry on _

_We'll carry on _

_And in my heart I can't contain it _

_The anthem won't explain it_

"About your antennae," the shape-shifter began.

"Continue, please, if you may and if you wish," Xenos said slowly, bobbing his head.

Beast Boy regarded the flapping antennae as his dragon did so. He seemed transfixed by them until he reminded himself of what he was doing. He came himself a mental slap for losing his concentration so easily. He really must have a short attention span if he left something so important.

"Before, when I grabbed them, you fell and when I let go, you flew up… vertically. Why is that?" he inquired softly, caressing his dragon's scaly neck.

He felt the powerful dragon shift beneath him as if he was uncomfortable about this subject. Truth be told, he didn't think he was ready to tell his Rider about this, but nonetheless, he had been asked a question and he would give an answer. It would be the truth two; no lies would be exchanged between dragon and Rider, no secrets would be kept.

Then the dragon remembered his mission and his goal. By being asked this, he had found a way to work it to his advantage and it would open the closed and locked door between them.

"If I tell you this, will you answer one of my questions one hundred percent truthfully?" he questioned, grinning deviously.

_And we will send you reeling from decimated dreams _

_Your misery and hate will kill us all _

_So paint it black and take it back_

_Let's shout it loud and clear _

_Do you fight it to the end? _

_We hear the call to_

Beast Boy shuffled slightly on his dragon's smooth back. He tried to think of what the question would be, but he couldn't think of anything that his dragon would ask. He nodded slowly, clearing his throat.

"Of course," he finally said, deciding that this could be a way to finish one part of the debt he owed the dragon.

"Thank you," Xenos said happily, grinning. "All right. You see, you can control my flight."

"I can control your flight?" the changeling questioned, eyes widening in shock.

"Well, yes and you can take over completely, thus enabling me to not be able to do anything. You see, each Rider can control their dragon's flight, although I'm only sure about mine," the green dragon answered calmly. "My antennae are what allow you to control my flight. They're kind of like the reins on a horse. You pull down to go down; back to stop, up to go up, left to go right and right to go left."

"I don't think I'll ever remember the left and right thingy, dude," Beast Boy complained, a puzzled look on his face.

"Then don't try it until you think you know it," informed the calm dragon, his grin widening. "Or else you'll make us crash into something accidentally. Of course, you could always let go when flying and I could take over."

The changeling nodded slowly, trying to take in all this.

"You can suggest to me where to fly though without having to take full control, although if you tell me to fly in the wrong direction, I will not listen," he continued, chuckling.

_To carry on _

_We'll carry on _

_Though you're dead and gone believe me your memory will carry on _

_We'll carry on _

_And though you're broken and defeated your weary widow marches on_

"Oh," he said afterwards, bobbing his head. "Now, do you know where you're going?"

"No, no, no, I'm not answering until you answer my question," taunted the green dragon, his body rumbling with his laughter again.

He cocked his head, and then remembered his promise.

"Oh, yeah, that. I'm sorry, dude, I guess I, uh, forgot," he admitted sheepishly.

"Well, that's all right. I forget things two," he answered calmly.

"You do?" Beast Boy asked stunned.

"Of course I do. Now, about the question: Do you have a crush on Raven?" he teased, looking back at him.

The green boy's body had grown rigid and his eyes widened. His heart pounded faster and he bit his bottom lip, refusing to look at his dragon. An awkward silence was formed between dragon and Rider. Xenos could feel his friend shifting uncomfortably upon his back as if searching for a way out, so he made one for him.

"If you don't want to talk about it, BB, you don't have to, you know," the earth dragon suggested, glancing backwards.

But his Rider was shaking his head and blinking his eyes. A stubborn looked crossed his face and he smiled his trademark grin at his dragon.

"Now, what kind of Rider would I be not to open up to my dragon?" he teased before he grew serious.

When the green teen paused again, the dragon wondered if another silence would be forged. He didn't want that to occur. He was just about to open his jaws when he heard the changeling clear his throat and stroke his scaly neck gently.

"Dude, this…" he began, before he suddenly gained courage seeing that they were completely alone. "I can't believe it, Xenos. Funny guy falls for dark, lonely, gothic-like girl."

"That's okay, BB. She's not just that two; she's beautiful and intelligent, correct? Is that what you see in her?" the green dragon inquired gently, trying not to push his Rider.

"Uh… well, yeah, I guess I do," he admitted sheepishly, running a hand through his hair.

"That explains why you're always trying to get her to smile and laugh; you like her. Don't worry though, Beast Boy, I'm sure she feels the same way," he comforted.

"Yeah… hey, wait, what did you just say?" Beast Boy questioned, raising a brow.

The dragon gave himself a mental slap. He had just blown it. His large paws fidgeted where his Rider couldn't see and he blinked, trying to think of something to say, but he was at a loss for words.

"Uh, nothing important, just that you shouldn't worry," he answered.

_And that I'm sure she feels the same way about you two, _he added silently, just so that he wouldn't lie to his Rider.

_And on we carry through the fears _

_Ooh oh ohhhh _

_Disappointed faces of your peers, ooh oh ohhhh _

_Take a look at me cause _

_I could not care at all: Do or die_

"Okay then, dude," Beast Boy replied, buying everything that his dragon said to him.

He had a feeling that there was more to it, but he didn't push his luck with his dragon. Even if Xenos wouldn't do anything to hurt him, he didn't want to do anything that might accidentally anger his dragon.

He glanced warily at his dragon's head and immediately felt guilty all over again.

"Hey, dude, maybe when we catch up to the others, they can help to heal your burns," he offered slowly, fighting back his regret.

"The burns? Don't worry about them, Beast Boy, they don't hurt anymore; really, they don't," Xenos murmured softly. "But yes, perhaps they can help with them so I won't be scarred for the rest of my life. Especially since every time you looked at my antennae and head, you'd immediately feel guilty, as you are now."

The changeling gawked slightly at his dragon, surprised that he knew exactly how he was feeling. He was about to part his lips to speak, but his dragon spoke before him.

"I can feel your emotions, if that's what you're thinking, Beast Boy. That's why whenever you feel anger, fear, misery, guilt, or anything along those lines, it makes me feel bad. It makes me feel as though I should've done more to help you," the dragon admitted thoughtfully.

The green boy nodded, closing his eyes as he enjoyed the breeze. Xenos felt his Rider calm down and his tense muscles relaxed. He felt peaceful now, until he remembered something. He bowed his head as he regretted ever making Beast Boy come with him on this dangerous mission.

_Beast Boy has nothing to eat, or drink. I won't give him grass and leaves again, but there's nothing else to eat except meat and I won't give _that _to him. It wouldn't be right of me. Now, for the water. Yes, there are plenty of streams and rivers and waterbeds, but they're not safe for him to drink. I can't boil the water and neither can he, _fretted the dragon, blinking wildly.

_You'll never make me _

_Cause the world, will never take my heart _

_You can try, you'll never break me _

_Want it all, _

_I'm gonna play this part_

_I'm a horrid dragon to be with a Rider, _continued Xenos worriedly. _I should've told him to bring tofu on this trip. I'll have to fly faster and fly day and night so we can catch up with the others. Then at least he could drink water, but I'm afraid there won't be any food._

He glanced back at his Rider, whose eyes were half-shielded by his eyelids. He yawned, leaning against his dragon's neck.

"Sleep if you need to, Beast Boy," whispered the dragon in a high, but happy voice.

It was the voice anyone would use to get a child to sleep. It seemed to work on the teen; after a few minutes he had slumped down against his dragon's neck and was sleeping. His jaws were open and drool was dripping out into the sky below. He hugged the green dragon's neck happily and though his mouth was open, the corners had tugged themselves into a grin.

_I'll continue flying; I'll fly my wings off if I have to. Beast Boy needs the rest more than I do, he needs the food more than I do and he needs the water more than I do, _Xenos continued. _Wait… I control earth! I can find water underground!_

_Won't explain or say I'm sorry _

_I'm not ashamed, _

_I'm gonna show my scar _

_You're the chair, for all the broken; listen here, because it's only… _

The dragon looked excitedly at the ground, deciding that when Beast Boy woke up, they'd land and he could give him water. The water in the ground would be just fine for his Rider; although he was sure there wouldn't be enough for the both of them. He'd just make sure that the green changeling got it all, or most of it.

_I'm just a man, _

_I'm not a hero _

_Just a boy, who's meant to sing this song, _

_Just a man, _

_I'm not a hero_

Xenos grinned contentedly, glancing back at his Rider again.

_The faster I fly, the sooner he can eat, the sooner he can drink and the sooner we can catch up with the others. I'm not one hundred percent sure where the others are, but I'll just follow their scent until we catch up. They'll have to land at some point and that is when we'll catch up, _he decided mentally, continuing to smile.

His wings beat the air faster and they moved swifter. Not once did he ever jostle his Rider, not even as he flew faster. They continued to fly until Xenos's wings ached, but he didn't stop, or complain. He just kept on going.

_No matter how much pain I must go through, I will feel more pain if Beast Boy grows hungry, or becomes dehydrated. And even more pain if he dies. If he dies, I die. I'd rather die of exhaustion, or starvation, or dehydration rather than see him die, _he told himself. _He has so much to live for. He's about to save the world, for God's sake! He is needed there more than I am._

_I -- don't -- care _

_Carry on _

_We'll carry on _

_Though you're dead and gone believe me; your memory will carry on_

Xenos bobbed his head, panting now. He could feel fatigue slowing him down, so he pushed himself harder. His panting increased and his head bobbed faster. His heart was beating fast and his wings ached, longing to stop and rest. Still, he wouldn't stop.

_I can't stop now. Beast Boy needs me to carry on; we'll carry onward until we save the world. My fatigue will not cause me to stop, _he told himself, giving himself more mental strength.

This helped him to push onward, ignoring the searing pain in his muscles. He closed his eyes as he flew; trying hard to ignore the pain, but it was slowly growing unbearable.

Beast Boy shifted on his dragon's back, his hand resting against his shoulder. His eyes jolted open when he felt the taut muscles, the beads of sweat and his dragon's pulse.

"Xenos!" he yelped, eyes widening as he bolted upright.

"Heh-lo, BB," wheezed the dragon, continuing to pant.

"You're pushing yourself to hard! Stop now," he ordered, fearing for his dragon's safety, but the dragon didn't stop.

They continued to fly forward.

"Go-back-to sleep," rasped Xenos, blinking madly.

"How can I?" he whittled, looking around frantically for a way to stop his dragon. "You're insane now!"

"Insane? Perhaps… insane for-your-safety," the dragon offered weakly.

He continued to look wildly until he saw the antennae flapping in the wind. Seeing them jogged his memory and he reached out for them. He grasped them before he pulled back.

Eyes widening, the dragon stopped in mid-air, hovering for a bit until Beast Boy delicately pulled down on the antennae.

_Just like reins on a horse. Back to stop, down to go down, _the changeling thought as they lowered gracefully from the sky.

When they landed, the dragon collapsed and he immediately hopped off.

"Xenos!" he cried, rubbing his dragon's nose. "You could've hurt yourself; for what?"

"For-you," the dragon breathed, continuing to blink.

The changeling caressed his neck softly before he rested his head on his dragon's cheek.

"Don't you ever do that again," he scolded gently

_We'll carry on _

_And though you're broken and defeated your weary widow marches on _

_We'll carry on _

_We'll carry on_

All Xenos could do was grin weakly as his Rider continued to stroke his neck. He could feel sleep gently tugging at him and his muscles slowly relaxed. His breathing slowed and his heartbeat decreased its rough pace.

"Yes, sleep, Xenos, sleep," Beast Boy urged.

Without even thinking, Xenos's eyes closed. He felt his Rider cuddle up against his neck and he shielded him with a wing. He licked his Rider's head gently, his smile remaining on his face.

At this, the changeling grinned two.

"I love you, Beast Boy," Xenos murmured gently.

"I love you two, Xenos," breathed the boy before they both allowed sleep to come gracefully to them and spread her blanket over them both.

_We'll carry on _

_We'll carry _

_We'll carry on_

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A/N: Well, what do you think of chapter ten? I made it ten pages long as well. 3 Uh, please, don't hit me, or flame me. I will hide beneath my desk if you do that and then none of my stories-that are still in progress-will be completed, for I will not come out.

Review please and give me your opinions! Review your hearts out, people!


	11. A Poisoned Heart?

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: Xenos was all right and ready to carry on with the mission-even if Beast Boy didn't want to push anything. No one can escape anything like what Xenos got, but thankfully he escaped with minor burns. They escape from their prison and carry onward, but the dragon tries something risky in order to get closer to their destination. Will they be able to reach the others in time? What happened to the others? What of Xenos and Zarathustra's devious plan?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Well, I'm finally updating. Dead girl lives again. 3 Anyways, sorry for not updating in a while, I have been quite busy, even though it _is _the March Break for me. I've been away, but now I'm finally back with the next chapter to this story. I bet the people following _Crimson Fangs _are peeved off with me, but I'm working as fast as I can.

Don't kill me, please. Besides, I like to read other people's stories, so I sometimes push my own stories out of the way for my own pleasure. I'm like that… Unfortunately all the time.

Now, enough of my meaningless chatter; onward with chapter eleven!

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Raven Roth refused to look at anything other than the ground that was flying by swiftly below them. She could feel her friend's emotions; none of them were equally as depressed as she was with leaving Beast Boy and Xenos behind, but at least they still cared about their teammate. Even if he was an annoying changeling that committed pranks, had lame jokes and was always trying to get the Goth to be happy and to smile once in a while.

To be honest, she missed the grass stain. He was really the only one that could make her happy-apart from her dragon, Zarathustra, of course-and she admired him for that. She blinked furiously, trying her best to hold back the tears that threatened to shed themselves at the mere thought of the boy.

She remembered his toothy smile always staring at her; his voice as it tried to cheer her up when she was gloomy. Her body shivered when she recalled the time with Malchior, but she tried her best to push that thought from her mind. His words echoed in her mind as she thought about that time, how he had apologized to her after she had trapped the deceiving dragon in the book hidden in her trunk; how she had left her room and embraced him.

Her dragon shifted beneath her, snapping her from her trance. His red eyes continuously flickered back to her in worry; his heart ached at her pain. He glanced ahead of him at the other dragons and Riders before he fixed his gaze on his Rider once more.

"Something's wrong, Raven and don't try to tell me otherwise," he finally said in a concerned voice.

The girl finally looked up at him, her amethyst eyes quite and reserved. He could see through those unrevealing eyes though, to see her pain, her sorrow, everything. It pained him greatly to see her like this and he knew that no physical pain could ever hurt more than this.

She sighed softly, averting her gaze after a while of an awkward silence. Zarathustra's paws shuffled beneath him and he itched to say more, but he didn't. If she wanted to keep everything to herself, then he'd allow her space, but that didn't mean he couldn't worry about her and her safety.

"I miss them," she managed after a while, her voice barely audible.

A wave of sympathy crashed over the dragon and he felt extremely guilty. He looked down at the ground as well before he looked back at her.

"I do two, Raven, and I should've done more. I'm sorry, it's my entire fault," he replied slowly, choking back the lump that had formed in his throat. "I should've been paying attention and as soon as they fell, I should've been there. I should've escaped that creature and saved them."

His eyes narrowed at the thought of those creatures of darkness and a threatening growl rose from his chest. His body trembled in anger and guilt before he calmed himself, his gaze returning to normal as he looked back at her.

"It's not your fault; there was nothing more that you could have done, Zarathustra. Don't beat yourself up over my mistake. I shouldn't have been so hard on him for all this time. I should've confessed everything to him," she murmured before a hand flew up to her mouth as she said this.

The dragon was in no mood to bug her about this. Instead he nuzzled her leg comfortingly, his eyes full of sympathy. He turned his head back around, concentrating on where he was going; he was in no mood to crash, or lose the group.

"Well, it's defiantly not your fault and it appears that it is not my fault, therefore it is no one's fault except those evil creatures. Now, when you say that you 'should've confessed everything to him,' what exactly is it that you mean by that?" he answered.

Some would say he was teasing the poor girl, but that was the last thing he was trying to do. He just wanted unanswered questions to be answered in _her _words and not in his. He wanted her to tell him them herself instead of him looking in her mind and accidentally finding the answers to his questions.

An odd look crossed her face, a look that he had never seen on her. He tried to think of what it could be; there were many things, including embarrassment and fear. He'd never seen her afraid yet, or embarrassed about anything. Sometimes he thought that she never felt these two emotions, but he knew it was a lie.

She fiddled with her fingers, trying to avoid the question, but she knew there was no way to escape. She had led herself into a dark alleyway with the only exit blocked off by the dragon; up was not an option, nor was down. There was no escaping.

"That I'm sorry about fighting with him almost all the time and for tossing him out the window into the ocean numerous times," she finally answered.

She didn't want to lie to him, but she also couldn't reveal everything. So instead, she told him most of the truth, but kept something to herself. She breathed a sigh of relief when Zarathustra didn't push it any farther. In fact, he acted as though he had never known anything and that she was telling him everything that she knew and there was nothing more.

"I guess you've never apologized to him for that and thus it's eating you alive," he commented after a short amount of time.

If Raven wasn't ready to tell him everything that he wanted to know, then he wouldn't force anything. He wouldn't make her open up to him; she never really opened up to anyone anyways, so just having her tell him this made him feel special and proud. It was as if he had accomplished the world's hardest task.

"When did you ever get so smart?" she scoffed, a hint of a smile on her face before it disappeared.

It was gone so quickly that the black dragon wasn't even sure if it was ever really there. He shrugged it off though, for it couldn't possibly mean anything extremely important… Could it?

"Ever since I came out of that egg and was trained by you," he answered happily, trying hard to push their troubles away.

And for a short while, it worked, until her small smile faded and she looked away gloomily. Zarathustra shook his massive head, leaving it at that. He knew this subject was touchy, thus he didn't wish to interfere with anything that wasn't pertaining to his own business.

"I just wish that we could continue searching, or they'd catch up," she muttered and he could barely see the tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

She didn't let them fall though, just pulled up her hood before she furiously ran a hand over her face. It seemed as if she wasn't upset at all about any of this.

"Wishing that you could meditate?" he finally inquired, grinning slightly, but he never looked back.

"You bet," she answered in her normal monotone.

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_Beast Boy._

The boy grunted in his sleep, turning over and swatting at the air. He continued to drool, his eyes tightly shut. A nose nudged the small of his back and he tapped it lightly to tell it to go away. This was to absolutely no avail, for the nose began to push harder.

"Beast Boy!" the voice yelped, now no longer in his mind.

"Five more minutes," he groaned, still asleep.

"You and I _both _know that'll turn into five more hours," fumed the voice, continuing to push against him. "Now wake up! We need to get going, _now._"

He ignored this, continuing to rest peacefully. That is, until he was picked up and dangled from jaws. His eyelids flickered open to see that he was hanging in the air, neither falling, nor going up.

"Huh, what? What's going on, dude; where am I?" he grumbled, rubbing his eyes, apparently not at all fazed and being dangled helplessly in the air.

"No idea, BB, now get up so you can drink!" the voice persuaded before he was gently lowered to the safety of the earth.

He sat down, yawning before he looked behind him at Xenos. He jumped up before realization dawned on him. He looked at the sky to notice that it wasn't sunlight that was allowing him to see his dragon, but moonlight.

"Dude, it's nighttime. Can't we sleep _longer_?" he questioned, stifling yet another yawn.

"Not nighttime, daytime. Just early; I'm guessing four something, judging by where the moon is," Xenos answered matter-of-factly. "Now, you need to drink before you become dehydrated."

He motioned with his large muzzle to a groove dug into the earth with water. Apparently the dragon had dug a hole and used his powers to summon up water. He smirked happily at his 'masterpiece' before he began to push his Rider towards it.

"Dude, what about you; don't you need to drink?" he asked groggily, stifling yet another yawn.

"I can only get so much water; drink it all, you need it more than I do," the dragon answered.

By now the changeling was hovering over the pool of water before he dropped lazily to his knees. All the dragon could do was grin and shake his head slightly.

"You need it two, dude. I'll leave most of it for ya," Beast Boy retorted slowly.

"No no no, you're going to drink _all _of it, by _yourself,_" Xenos argued lightly.

"Then I'll drink half and you drink half," countered the boy.

"Fine; you drink three quarters of it and I'll drink the rest," the dragon finally agreed softly.

He knew their argument was pointless and either way he was going to end up drinking some of the water. Better make sure his Rider drank more than him.

"Deal?" the earth dragon inquired.

"No deal."

"No deal?"

By now the dragon was immensely confused.

"Yea, dude, no deal," Beast Boy continued, bobbing his head lazily.

"Why not?" the dragon questioned.

"You're bigger than I am, so you should drink more, if not the same as me," he said.

"I'm like a camel; I store water. I don't need a lot," he lied, the words tasting bitter in his mouth.

He loathed lying to his Rider, but if it meant something pertaining to his Rider's health and well-being, he'd do it. Of course, he'd still feel guilty, but at least he'd live happier knowing that he helped his Rider and acted like a real dragon should.

He got an odd look from his Rider as if he didn't believe him. Upon instinct, the dragon gulped, but gave away nothing.

"Really? Never knew that," the boy commented, gazing at his reflection now.

"Yea; more for you to learn, I guess," Xenos breathed.

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Now both dragon and Rider had taken to the sky to continue with their journey. Xenos had made sure the boy drank three quarters of the water-or roughly around there-and he had drunk the rest. Of course, after flying for a while, Beast Boy's stomach growled bitterly, demanding food.

Again, the dragon felt the cruelty of guilt.

_I'm a bad dragon; I can't even feed my own Rider! _He thought bitterly, glancing worriedly at the green changeling.

All he received was his Rider's infamous toothy, canine-like grin and his Rider telling him he was fine; there was nothing to worry about. How could he believe that though, when he felt his Rider's emotions, pains and everything? When he could sense that there _was _something for him to worry about.

Loyalty made him agree to this though and they had continued on with flying. Beast Boy relaxed on his dragon, trying to fall back asleep, but it had long since left him. They enjoyed the silence; it gave them both time to think and recall things.

Xenos was completely following his nose to find the others and using absolutely nothing else-except what the trees whispered to him, of course. The trees helped him to know that he was heading in the correct direction; they confirmed that the dragons and their Riders had flown over them, but there wasn't enough time for him to ask them how long before.

He knew that they were probably far ahead by now, but what he feared the most was that they didn't care that they weren't with them. He knew that at times, they thought that Beast Boy was annoying.

He grimaced when he remembered when Beast Boy told him about his prank to Cyborg, about how it had backfired and Starfire was hit in the face with a balloon that was filled with motor oil.

All a prank to Cyborg just because he put brown dye in Beast Boy's shampoo, changing him brown for a while. A small smile wormed its way onto the dragon's muzzle as he pictured Beast Boy brown.

_No, bad dragon, thinking bad thoughts! Do not cherish what Cyborg has done so cruelly to your Rider! How would you like it if you turned brown? Bad dragon, bad, _he scolded himself mentally, giving him a mental slap as well.

He spared a glance backwards to see his Rider lying down on his back. He had excellent balance; not once did he even appear to slide off of his back. Beast Boy's hands were cupped behind his head and his gaze was fixed on the sky above.

It was illuminated in the sun's first rays and the sky had turned purple, pink, magenta and orange. There were slight traces of a baby blue up there two, but they were difficult to locate. Immensely difficult; much worse than finding Waldo in one of his books.

Okay, so that's not so difficult, but alas, some people have quite the amount of trouble of finding that silly little man in the books that had increased from the first book: _Where's Waldo?_

Xenos shook his head, his smile fading. He returned his gaze to ahead of him, again feeling guilty.

_What about if we don't make it in time? What about if Beast Boy dies of starvation; no, I'd go back to feeding him grass, or offer him meat before that happens! But what about if by the time we get there, they're all dead? What about if they no longer care for us and have forgotten us in their travels? _The earth dragon fumed, blinking wildly as he tried to clear these horrid thoughts.

He shook his head again and his body quivered, but the green changeling didn't move, nor did he shift. It was almost as if he wasn't there. Again he looked back at his Rider with concern.

Beast Boy wasn't paying attention to him, or anything for that matter. His eyes had a distant look to them and they seemed to not even focus on the sky he had been regarding intently just minutes ago.

A pang of regret hit the dragon like a knife weaseling its way towards his heart. It seemed icy and cold, but he didn't shiver once, just fought back the lump that was gradually forming in his throat. He loathed seeing his Rider like this; he seemed as though he wasn't even alive.

His eyes were open and barely blinking. They reminded him of Raven's cold, penetrating gaze and he immediately stiffened. Beast Boy turning into yet another Raven. He couldn't bear to even _think _about his Rider becoming like her.

"Beast Boy?" he inquired softly.

He breathed a sigh of relief when he obtained a response. The boy bolted upright suddenly, his eyes regaining their normal shine. He didn't seem dead to the world anymore and he seemed lively again. He smiled his toothy grin, eyes glittering happily.

"Yea, dude?" he questioned gently.

"Nothing, you just seemed… Well, _dead_ for a minute there and I was getting worried about you dude," the dragon admitted thoughtfully.

Wait… dude? Whenever did Xenos start using the term dude? He seemed to realize his mistake, for a sheepish smirk crossed his face. Beast Boy chuckled.

"Since when did you start using 'dude'?" he asked, continuing to smile.

"Uh, no idea; it just came out, I guess," Xenos murmured sheepishly before he turned away, embarrassed.

_Dude, _he thought, shaking his head. _I really am Beast Boy's dragon._

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"Raven, are you perhaps, a living dead girl?" teased the black dragon, smiling lightly at the girl on his back.

Her eyes seemed far away, not toning in on anything at all. She seemed to see right through everything and her body barely moved. His words snapped her from her trance, although she barely heard them. She shook her head, eyes focusing on her dragon's kind, beaming face.

Like a cold, hard slap to the face, it hit her. He reminded her of Beast Boy and she immediately feared she'd break down right before him. She swallowed sharply, blinking to remember that this was not a time to worry herself about the past. Now was a time to think of the present and the future, not dwindle forever in what had been done and left.

"What?" she managed, looking at him calmly. "What is it that you said?"

"Nothing important, Raven; not at all one thing to concern yourself about," he answered slowly, continuing to smile at her.

"Tell me," she demanded, but her voice was gentle, even _if _it still held her monotone voice.

"I'm telling you, it's not at all important. But, since you asked _nicely, _I guess I _could _tell you," he taunted, dangling his words in front of her, as if she were a fish and they were the bait on the hook.

"But?" she inquired, regarding him. "I know there's something more to this, so just tell me."

"…Well, as you know already, I would like to know you better and learn what you were talking about earlier. The _entire _thing and just not most of it. About where you 'should've confessed everything to him.' And don't tell me you don't remember," he answered slowly, continuing to grin as he nudged her bare leg gently.

She crossed her arms, fuming about this. When she looked into her dragon's red eyes, she knew that what he had said _was _important. Slowly she nodded.

"All right, you're on," she challenged determinedly. "What I meant is that I'm sorry about fighting with him almost all the time and for tossing him out the window into the ocean numerous times."

She smirked happily, triumphant about this, but he wasn't quitting.

"And?" he questioned.

"And?"

"There's more to it than you're telling me," Zarathustra continued.

"There is not anything more."

"Of course there is, Raven; I can see it… No, I can _feel _it."

"All right, I'm worried about them," she confessed slowly.

"Mostly the green changeling?" he asked innocently.

"No," she retorted, but seeing her dragon's unconvinced gaze, she nodded.

"Are you going to tell me why?" he questioned.

"No," she answered playfully, smirking.

"You always get me at that, don't you? Anyways, as promised, what I said earlier: 'Raven, are you perhaps, a living dead girl?' Those are the exact words; not important, do you agree?" he repeated thoughtfully.

"No."

"No?"

"You're lying, it's more," she said, crossing her arms and trying to 'pout,' but to absolutely no avail.

"I swear to Moses, it is not lies," he answered.

"Sure… Wait, isn't it 'I swear to God,' not 'I swear to Moses'?"

By now the Goth was puzzled and it showed on her features. The dragon's chuckle rumbled his entire body, making her body shake with it. His laughter died.

"Excuse my laughter, Raven. I thought I already told you this," he apologized.

"No," she said, chewing on her bottom lip.

"Oh. You see, humans say 'I swear to God,' but since dragons are not humans, we say 'I swear to Moses.' It's complicated, I guess, but we just leave you to swear in the face of God, while we do so to Moses," he explained.

"So, you're Jewish then, I take it?" she inquired.

"No, not Jewish. Dragons do not have religions, for we proclaim ourselves to be all the same," he continued gently. "Humans created religions just so they could be racist to each other. I mean those that have peach skin-also known as 'whites'-call brown-skinned people-also known as 'blacks'-niggaz. Disrespectful to how they were born, a clear sign of racism."

The dragon shook his head in mock disgust, clicking his tongue. His red eyes narrowed as he thought about that.

_Why can't people learn from us dragons and see that they are all alike? Why can't they see that there is nothing different from one person to another except the fact of their personalities? Disgraceful to all living creatures, especially dragons, _he fumed bitterly in his mind, glancing back at his Rider.

"Not all people are like that, Zarathustra," she murmured gently.

He sighed softly, his gaze softening. He nodded his head.

"Yes, sorry. You and the Titans are not like that and are trying to put an end to racism. The Titans have many religions included, the main five being a half-demon, an alien, a green boy, a cyborg and a normal, average peach-skinned boy," he commented, then looked down. "No offense to you, of course."

"No, it's okay," Raven muttered, looking down. "I am a half-demon, bred to kill and murder."

"Ah, but you have changed yourself to do what is right. You do good instead of the evil you were created to do. You save the innocent lives instead of murdering them. Considering you are Trigon's daughter, I'd say that… Well, you're a really good girl that's intelligent, calm, beautiful and reserved. So what if some people think you're creepy; ignore them! They say that because they fear you for what you are and what you could become if you wished, but it has never happened. They look at you from behind rose-coloured glasses," the dragon said, his temper rising when he thought about how people thought of his Rider. "You see, Raven, there are many people that hold racism, even if they don't think they are racist. Many are racist to you."

He sighed, looking down at the ground. He felt Raven shift on him and waited for an emotion to appear, but none came. He glanced back at her confused.

The Goth met his gaze firmly. Her eyes gave nothing away as to how she was feeling. Her body language didn't betray anything either, which slightly surprised him. She was calm and collected, not speaking a word.

He even wondered if she dared to even speak for fear of unleashing her emotions and showing everything that she worked so hard each day to keep inside. She had never seemed fazed in this world where everything you did was to stay alive. They flew on in awkward silence; it was broken by the other's calm words exchanged, but the duo barely noticed.

The girl wasn't looking really at anything; she had that far away look again and she seemed to see through everything, even her own dragon. Her mind blocked out every word spoken to make it seem as though she were deaf. She barely felt her dragon below her, barely noticed the wind that asked her play. It was almost as if she was dead, but still living.

This concerned the large black dragon. But he, on the other hand, was quite different from his Rider. His mind allowed in every thought, every word, but his body simply ignored it. He concentrated deeply on the task ahead, his red eyes never leaving the dragon ahead of him.

_In this cruel world, it's always a fight to stay alive. The hunters are hunted by the hunters. Those who choose not to fight always seem to die. Everything you seem to do, you always end up dying hard. Except, of course, if you were to live free, _he thought to himself, before he chuckled silently. _Live free, or die hard. Or, live free, or die hard _trying. _Yes indeed, much better._

He grinned slightly to himself. He flapped his wings, his tail snaking out behind him when he first felt the cold. He looked up into the sky to see dark, grey clouds hanging overhead. Snowflakes were falling and dropping onto his black scales before they melted and ran down.

Of course, the snowflakes fell on everyone and melted, but no one except Aedh seemed to mind. Especially not Raven. By now all of the Titans had put on their winter clothing-save for Starfire, Raven and Beast Boy. Of course, how would they even know if Beast Boy was wearing his heavy clothes for winter?

"Starfire, why do you not wear your warm clothes?" a worried Hytimjir't inquired. "It is getting cold and it will get even colder."

"Oh, no worries, Hytimjir't! I have no need for the clothing of winter, for on my planet, my people are never cold. So, I did not end up bringing any of the clothing of winter, for I do not need it," she answered matter-of-factly.

"Star! You'll _need _it for where we're going! Even the people of Tamaran wouldn't be able to withstand the cold we are heading towards! Now, what am I going to do about clothing for you?" the dragon fumed, flapping her dolphin-like tail as she thought.

"And how about you, Raven? Why are you not wearing your other cloak?" Zarathustra questioned softly, glancing back at her.

"It's not cold currently and neither am I. When it _does _get cold though, I will wear it," she replied in her usual, calm monotone.

The dragon grumbled a bit, the spear on the tip of his tail twitching back and forth. He knew arguing with the Goth would do no good whatsoever; he probably wouldn't win and end up getting on his own Rider's bad side instead of her good side.

_I wonder how many others there are on Raven's good side. I am almost positive there are quite a large amount of people on her bad side, of course, _the dragon thought calmly to himself. _That's why I feel privileged to be on her good side instead of her bad side. I can only imagine what happened to Doctor Light and I'm not about to find out any time soon._

He shook his massive head, glancing back at the dark girl. She held her other cloak against her chest and was staring out in the falling snow. It swirled as if taunting her, wanting her to play, but she wouldn't fall for it.

_What immature idiot would actually _play _with snow? _She thought.

_Beast Boy, perhaps? _A gentle voice suggested. _You know, _your _idiot?_

He smirked, licking his large fangs as his koi-like whiskers quivered. He glanced back at her again, to see she was glaring at him now.

_Beast Boy is not _my _idiot and he never will be, _she snapped coldly.

_Not now he isn't, but perhaps we will be. I bet you wish he _was _your idiot._

Zarathustra continued to grin while Raven glowered at her dragon. He could finally feel an emotion inside of her-actually, it was two.

_Wipe that smile from your face before it comes off permanently, _she threatened.

_Raven, you'll feel better if you admit it at least to me. I'm here for you, to protect you, to give you a shoulder to cry on, to make you feel better when you're sad and when you're happy, to make you even happier. Please, tell me, _the dragon answered seriously, his smile fading from his face.

_Admit what? _She growled.

He could see denial written all over her face, but he shrugged it off. He knew she'd feel better if she just allowed herself to feel emotions and to open up to someone instead of keeping everything hidden deep within her. He could feel those secrets just dying to come out of their prisons.

_Now, you and I _both _know exactly what you need to admit. I swear to Moses I won't laugh. Just allow yourself to feel; I'm here for you to help keep your powers in check so you can actually _feel _without worrying about hurting someone, _Zarathustra murmured.

There was a pause and he felt his Rider's gaze lighten. He glanced back to make sure it was real and, sure enough, it was. Her eyes had softened, but unfortunately, there was still no smile upon her grey face.

He admired her for being able to survive for so long with her powers without someone to help her. He admired that she could control her dark energy that she had and that she could hide her emotions from anyone-except him. The dragon admired the dark girl in so many ways that it would take a while for him to explain them all.

A minute had passed and neither had spoken, so he decided to make it easier for his Rider. Still, he did not smile; his face didn't even hint of one.

_All right, Raven, I know a way to make it easier for you, _he began, still controlling his calm, simple face. _Do you, or do you not have a crush on Beast Boy? No lies; be truthful. I want to know more about you, Raven, I really do, but you have to trust me to do it._

_Trust takes years to build, but only seconds to shatter, Zarathustra, _Raven meekly answered.

_Does that mean that you don't trust me? _The dragon questioned, hurt.

_Of course I do trust you, but not fully, _Raven replied.

_Oh; can you answer my question now please? _He grinned back at her before his smile faded.

Nothing came from the Goth and she shuffled uncomfortably on his back. She looked down at her other cloak before she shivered and switched, wrapping her fur-trimmed cloak around her. Finally the silence was broken.

_Perhaps, _was the girl's small answer.

_Is perhaps a yes, or a no?_

_Um… _The girl looked down at her hands again from glancing up at that black, knowing face. _Yes._

The answer was so quiet that Zarathustra barely even heard it. And when he did hear it, it nearly blew him away. He had been expecting to be shrugged off, ignored, or rudely snapped at, but here he was, hearing one of Raven's darkest secrets. The secret as to why she hated herself.

She admitted to herself that telling him made her feel better, especially when he didn't laugh, or grin. Instead he nuzzled her leg affectionately.

_Thank you, Raven, _he said, his eyes glittering.

Especially when Raven had made her comment, he was sure that she'd never tell him. Then again, Raven was quite mysterious in her own ways and had different ways of doing things. No one could ever truly predict what the sorceress would do next. That was one of the major things Zarathustra hoped Raven would teach him.

But for now, he'd savor the fact that Raven trusted him and treated him as an equal. That even though her statement was true, that trust really _does _take years to build, but only seconds to shatter, she had 'opened' up to this dragon. And that made him proud of both himself and the girl.

Himself for finally learning about the dark, secretive sorceress and her for releasing a wild emotion and trusting him enough to help her with her powers. That gave him a feeling of accomplishment and he felt good about himself. Even Raven felt good about herself.

_I won't bother her again today, _Zarathustra vowed to himself silently. _She's gone through enough for one day and trusted me enough to tell me her secret. A secret I promise to keep forever._

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A/N: What do you think of chapter eleven? Do you like it, hate it? Love it, loathe it? I need to know.

Yes, I think the ending was a little weird, but hey, what can I say? I'm a weird child two! Or am I a wild child? Wicked child? I say all of the above.

Don't worry though, Beast Boy _will _catch up with the others, just later on. Sorry there wasn't a lot of Beast Boy in this chapter. He has his own little chapters that will come, like chapter ten.

Anyways, I'd like to thank BPF Fan for all of their help. They've inspired me and for that, I thank them greatly. (Sorry, I do not know if they are female, or male-I'm thinking female-and that is why BPF Fan is called 'they.' I do not like to call people 'it' if I do not know their gender.) So, if you like this story, remember that it was BPF Fan that inspired me to it. 3

Of course, I'd love to thank all of my reviewers for inspiring me two, especially TERRA8888 and Arcaten, who have been reviewing for this story since it began I think.

Now, you see the little bluish-grey button just below here to the left? Click it! 3 You'll make me a very happy, weird, wild and wicked child.


	12. Blood Singers

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

I do own Blood Singers and the Song of Blood though.

As well as the five dragons: Zarathustra, Xenos, Laetitia, Hytimjir't and Aedh.

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**Dragon Riders? Recap**: Something's wrong with Beast Boy and Xenos has no idea. What's worse: Xenos can't even really make light conversation with the changeling. Will Beast Boy's fears become a reality? Will the others find the elves and humans in time to save them?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Here it is: chapter twelve. This chapter is dedicated to the lovely BPF Fan-my friend. Without him, this story would be nothing and I wouldn't have made it this far. Thank you greatly, BPF Fan. So if you like this chapter, thank him for it. Now, read and enjoy.

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Black, gleaming talons gripped the earth tightly, creating deep gouges in the soft soil. The large paw jerked upwards before it landed heavily on the earth again. Another paw joined the first one and the talons began to dig feverishly at the earth. Finally the paws came to a rest, sitting gently before the hole in the earth.

Red eyes stared down at the hole; they held no emotion whatsoever and gave nothing away. The dragon snorted softly, turning his mighty head around to gaze at another dragon beside a frozen river. He was moving around in the snow, growling at it.

"Hurry up already, Aedh; we need to get moving _now,_" the black dragon hissed impatiently, glaring down at the hole he had created.

"Shut up, Zarathustra. It's not as easy as it looks, Dingus," Aedh retorted. "Besides, it is not I who is to put the water in that muddy hole. I do have one question though: won't the water get muddy and our Riders will get sick from the tainted water?"

The fire dragon sneered at the larger, more muscular black dragon behind him. That piercing gaze was fixed upon him and those large fangs glittered threateningly. If the two hadn't of been allies, they would've been fighting currently.

"No duh, _genius. _I haven't done _anything _to the hole yet," snapped an impatient Zarathustra, returning his cold gaze to the hole.

A head with hair plastered to it broke through the ice and popped up out of the water. The webbing on the head's cheeks faded and the gills on the neck attached to the blue head faded.

"About time you got here!" the black dragon complained bitterly, not even sparing a glance at the other dragon in the water.

"Sorry," the female apologized, clambering onto the bank sheepishly, breaking more ice as she did so. "Starfire insisted that I help her find food."

She shook herself, icy cold water droplets splattering everywhere. The red dragon squealed as he was pelted with the liquid and immediately jumped out of the way. When the water dragon finished, he snorted, smoke rising from his nostrils. The female didn't seem to notice, or if she did, she didn't care.

"Just hurry up already. We should be leaving," the black dragon muttered, shifting from paw to paw.

His jaws parted and he blew dark energy into his hole. The flame-like darkness spread out in the hole, licking greedily at all the sides before it vanished. He stepped back, showing a clear path from the river to the gorge.

Hytimjir't regarded him calmly, then shrugged everything off. She looked at the water where the ice was broken thoughtfully before she backed up. In a thick line like a snake, some bitter cold water rose from the river. It flowed gracefully towards the hole. The nose dipped, touching the bottom of the hole. Its tail followed in suit.

The trail of water had been long enough to fill the entire, large hole. The fire dragon grumbled, muttered something under his breath, then made his way over to the water. He gazed into it, seeing his reflection looking back at him. At first he was confused as to why the water was clear and not murky, but he quickly remembered Zarathustra blowing into it.

His own jaws parted and he breathed fire onto the water. The flames shot hungrily at the water, but diminished upon impact. He held his beam for a while before he shut his mouth, cutting off the power source. Immediately the flame stopped flowing and the water remained silent.

"There, are you _finally _happy?" he growled, clearly indicating the black dragon.

Zarathustra's red eyes were calm and serene now; he seemed at ease as he lay down. His spiked, sharp tail curled up towards him and he gave Aedh a lazy, uncaring look just to bother him. It worked like a charm; the red dragon growled low and deep before he turned his back on the black dragon like he was a waste of time.

Smirking, the dragon pushed himself into a sitting position as he regarded the red dragon's flaming wings. He always loved to tease Aedh; the dragon took _everything _personally. Zarathustra guessed it was having the boy wonder as a Rider.

In fact, every dragon had changed, or at least, the dragons _he _could see. They had changed to fit their Rider's personalities better, even though most of them started out so they would be good dragons to suit their Riders.

Hytimjir't had become innocent, happy-go-lucky and used perfect grammar _all _the time. Aedh had become extremely determined, stubborn and of course, wanted to _always _lead the others. Laetitia, on the other hand, stayed happy, but of course, her Rider was happy as well. She had taken more of a liking to meat. Xenos, Zarathustra had absolutely no idea about, but Xenos _had _changed to become more like his Rider.

Now Zarathustra, he had changed, but not fully like his Rider. Yes, he had become more reserved, liked to keep things to himself and had taken a slightly sarcastic side. But, he had inherited things from the others: Robin's determination, Starfire's happiness, Cyborg's enjoyment out of teasing another and Beast Boy's playful nature. He was different, what you would call unique and sensitive.

He shook his head, blinking his red eyes as he gazed at his reflection. It stared back at him calmly, with a cool and icy gaze. He blew gently from his nostrils, backing away from the liquid and jerking his head up high. He flapped his large wings before he rested them at his sides, folded and comfortable.

"There you are, Hytimjir't!" a happy, sweet voice called excitedly.

Zarathustra groaned slightly in a teasing fashion to the female dragon. She cocked her head to him, then narrowed her eyes before she focused her attention on her floating Rider. The alien girl was progressing towards her fast.

"I have been looking everywhere for you," Starfire continued, waggling her index finger like a mother would do when scolding a child.

Aedh snickered softly-he had turned around when he had heard the girl's approach. His flaming tail twitched as he grinned mockingly.

"Err… You have?" inquired the blue dragon, her head still tilted as she gazed at her Rider.

"Yes. Why did you leave so suddenly instead of helping us more, Hytimjir't? Why didn't you tell me you were leaving?" the girl replied and her voice sounded slightly hurt.

"Well, I knew that we all needed water, so I came to help these guys. If I was to leave it to them to get the water in the hole, it would take _hours_," she began, receiving annoyed growls and small complaints from Aedh and Zarathustra. "And I did tell you I was going to help them, but you completely ignored me. You just paid full attention to Robin and gave me absolutely nothing, so I thought that you wouldn't mind if I left you with-"

She stopped talking sharply when the large, black dragon nudged her shoulder softly with a talon. She glanced down at her Rider-she was blushing madly and had her head down-and immediately averted her gaze.

"I'm sorry, Star; my great apologies. I went to far this time," Hytimjir't swiftly apologized, but the alien was shaking her head while it was down.

She raised it to gaze at her dragon. Her cheeks had lost their tint of pinkish-red and instead had returned to their normal, slightly orange colour.

"No, it is my fault. I should have been listening to you more than I was friend Robin," she apologized and when her dragon went to protest, she cut her off. "You are correct, though, Hytimjir't."

The female blue dragon looked confused and slightly taken-aback. She cocked her head to one side, her eyes innocent like her Riders, but they held their own ideas and mysteries.

"I am?" she inquired, receiving a small nod from her Rider. "If you think that, then I will not argue. But it was still wrong of me to say that and bring it up, especially in front of others. I seek your forgiveness and please accept my greatest apologies."

Her Rider grinned brightly before she hugged her dragon's neck. Though her hug was hard-even if she didn't mean it to be that way-it didn't affect the dragon at all. In fact, she enjoyed these hugs and had grown used to them. She licked Starfire's head softly, grinning as well now.

"Oh, of course I forgive you, Hytimjir't!" she exclaimed.

"Should we go back to the others and tell them that we have water?" the female dragon questioned softly.

"Yes, we shou-"

She stopped short when a long dragon landed behind her.

"HEYA!"

The voice of the dragon blew Starfire's hair and made the other three dragons cringe. The three Riders seated on the long dragon covered their ears, while the alien girl just beamed happily.

"Greetings, friends! Hytimjir't and I were just going to go and find you to tell you that we now have water," she exclaimed.

Zarathustra, Aedh and Hytimjir't all gave Laetitia a never-do-that-again-or-we'll-kick-your-ass look before the black dragon finally moaned out.

"I think I'm deaf!" he whimpered.

"Ditto," the fire and water dragon answered in unison.

Raven glowered at her dragon to tell him to quit it and immediately he hushed up, looking down at his shuffling paws as if he didn't do anything.

"Uh, sorry?" the long, electrical dragon apologized.

If she had flesh instead of scales, she would've been blushing currently. She looked down before her legs bent so she crouched. Her Riders slid off of her-thankful for being closer to the ground-and thanked her for taking them back.

She shuffled her paws, looking away.

"It was nothing, really."

She was beaming with glee though at her praises and telepathically chattered excitedly with her Rider-her best friend. Cyborg grinned at her clear enthusiasm as he padded over to the other dragons that were crouched near the hole.

Suddenly Raven looked up sharply from where she crouched near the liquid, her eyes resting calmly on Laetitia.

"Uh, Laetitia?" she asked softly, eyes flashing around the long dragon.

The dragon stopped chattering with her Rider and regarded the dark empath hopefully. Her eyes glimmered and she continued to grin happily. She stretched out her neck, her nose just a meter from Raven.

"Yes, Raven?" she answered, continuing to smile dreamily.

The dragon always had a positive, up-beat attitude. That was for sure.

"Uh…" she stopped, looking at Laetitia's talons again. "Where's the…"

She grew uncomfortable, trying to think of a way to say it. The female dragon listened intently, her smile fading as she grew deathly serious. One minute, she could be ecstatic, the next, she could be almost like the Goth.

_Need a little help? _A reassuring voice asked her telepathically.

_Yes please, _she answered eagerly, glancing at her dragon hopefully.

There was a gentle chuckle before the answer: _Don't worry, I know exactly what you're thinking about._

_That's a relief. Thanks, _she murmured.

_Don't mention it, Raven, _he answered calmly before looking at the female dragon.

"What she means is where the food is," Zarathustra piped up.

Laetitia's eyes grew wide suddenly and she looked around frantically.

"Uh, my bad!" she exclaimed before she jerked her head up and turned around.

"I'll help you," Hytimjir't offered. "I caught some of it and I should help."

Nodding eagerly, the duo set off, leaving the other six to crowd around the pool of water and drink. After a short while, the female dragons returned with five dead animals-one for each dragon and one for all the Titans to share.

The Titans ate the food slowly. They loathed eating this food, especially since it was raw, freshly caught and tasted odd, but they ate it nonetheless to keep up their energy. Their dragons encouraged them to eat, not ever wanting to have something occur to their Riders. Especially not now, when they were in their darkness moments.

They stood, shuffling as they tried to return the feeling to their numbed limbs from the snow. Robin clambered swiftly onto his dragon, allowing Aedh's natural heat to warm him. He sighed with pleasure, eyelids drooping before he remembered that they needed to get going.

"Titans, move!" he declared before he and Aedh flapped clumsily into the sky.

After two beats though, his dragon got the hang of flying and circled overhead as they waited for the others. As soon as all of them were in the air, they set off in the direction Zarathustra told them to.

The black dragon and his dark Rider took the rear. He flapped lazily, every so often glancing back at his Rider. She was barely paying attention to anything, her mind clearly wandering to other matters.

He could see her bare legs growing red and he could feel her coldness. He felt a rush of sympathy like he always did for his Rider before he blew a puff of smoke onto her legs. She felt them warm up and gave Zarathustra a small grin.

"All dragons breathe fire, but some are special and have more powers, unlike Aedh," he explained with a smirk. "The fire dragon was the first dragon alive, thus all descendants-meaning all dragons-can breathe fire. Quite useful actually, although those that have a weakness or strength of fire rarely ever use it, for it can actually damage them. Did you know that?"

She shook her head, barely listening to her dragon.

"No, I never knew that all dragons could breathe fire," she answered and he felt her mood brighten slightly.

"Thinking about Beast Boy and Xenos?" he inquired, grinning sheepishly at her.

"Perhaps."

The answer was so sheepish and mysterious that it immediately told the black dragon that it was true. That and the fact that he knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Yeah, he's fine for water, but I'm not sure about food. You know, Xenos really should have thought of bringing along some vegetables, or something. Like tofu or fruits…"

The dragon shook his head, returning his gaze ahead of him.

"I guess Xenos never thought about it really, even _if _it is his own Rider. Must be taking after him like all of us," he continued, "Just like we're changing you as well. You're more open and are happier showing emotions-yes, you have shown _some _emotion, even if it is little and next to none. It's better than nothing though."

He grinned slyly at her, winking.

"I haven't felt any emotions," she countered softly.

"Wrong! You've felt them, but I've numbed your powers when you feel so you don't cause any damage. It _is _harder," he said, looking at his Rider's face of triumph: "But I've done it. The thing is that you haven't felt a lot of emotions in a while that you can't properly tell what they are, but that doesn't mean they're not there."

He pondered whether he should tell her about his little trip to Nevermore where he had a pleasant conversation with her emotions. Of course, he'd never tell her that he enjoyed Happy's company quite a bit, but he decided it was best not to keep secrets like that from his Rider.

"In fact, I actually visited Nevermore and conversed with your emotions. Happy is quite…" he began, trailing off as he thought about what to say about the pink-clad emotion.

"…Quite ecstatic to see someone?" she finished, looking down at her dragon's ivory spikes. "She's like that whenever she sees _anyone._"

"She's quite an interesting character. Why don't you act more like her?" Zarathustra joked.

"And dress in _pink_? I think not!" Raven answered, suppressing her small giggles.

"Aha! I told you that you can feel!" the dragon exclaimed triumphantly. "I just got you to be happy. And here's a secret between you and I: if we weren't flying right now, I'd start dancing."

"You're as crazy as Happy is," she chuckled.

"I take after you and I'm quite proud of it," he explained softly, continuing to grin.

"I am not crazy!" she retorted.

"Not currently, but you can be crazy and hyper if you wanted to. In fact, you should let Happy out a little more. She doesn't exactly like to be concealed away from the world in which she wants to embrace," he commented with a larger grin.

"And she can stay there along with Love," she added dryly, all sense of humor fading.

"And Lust?"

"I do not have an emotion as such," Raven retorted.

"Ah, but whom visited Nevermore recently? I did and I saw all your emotions including Happy, Love and Lust," he insisted.

"There is no such being as Lust in Nevermore," she countered.

"Ask Lust yourself then," he answered.

"You're trying to confuse the subject now, aren't you?" she inquired.

There was a small pause before her dragon spoke again.

"Perhaps so… what's it to you?"

The girl giggled slightly and the duo pushed what they had just been talking about to the backs of their minds. Suddenly-in the middle of a good conversation-Zarathustra stopped talking and glanced behind him.

Raven's eyes followed his gaze behind them, but she saw nothing except falling snow. In fact, she wondered how her dragon knew how to fly in the swirling mass of whiteness.

"What's the matter?" she questioned softly.

"Hush, little one; please, just for a moment."

She shifted uncomfortably on her dragon, her amethyst eyes narrowing as she tried to see through the whiteness. She remained silent though, accepting her dragon's wishes. If he did so many things for her, she should repay him back.

She caught Zarathustra's red eye widening before his head whipped around to face ahead of him.

"Blood!" he roared, wings beating faster.

Though the Titans were confused with the black dragon's warning, the other dragons understood clearly. They picked up speed, the wind and snow lashing their Riders in the faces, but they didn't stop.

_Zarathustra, what's going on? _She asked, but before he could answer, she heard a squeal before her and then Cyborg's scream.

Her amethyst eyes widened as she saw just in front of them a dragon and Rider fall. Her big brother falling down with the large, happy-go-lucky dragon.

"Cyborg!" she, Robin and Starfire cried in unison.

Suddenly, from out of the blizzard, a large blue shape came hurtling towards them. Wings were flailing about as the dragon tried to fly forward.

Blood was seeping through her scales and Zarathustra had to fly up to avoid them.

"We have to go get Star and Hytimjir't!" she told her dragon, but they were already in a nose-dive.

"Aedh and Robin will get them. Right now we need to save ourselves and Cyborg and Laetitia," he informed her sharply.

Just before them, she saw the yellow dragon's shape falling. She was desperately trying to get up, but she couldn't get out of her free-fall and the only way to do so was to become electricity. But she didn't dare, especially not with her Rider on her back.

"Cyborg!" Raven yelped, looking desperately at her friend, teammate and family-member; her big brother.

She felt Zarathustra swing his tail before she heard a screech of pain. She felt wings brush past her as a body fell beside her and her dragon. Zarathustra clutched the metallic man gently in his talons.

"Go, go, go!" he ordered Laetitia.

She nodded sharply before she disappeared and lightning lit up the sky. Her dragon leveled out and swerved around, heading in the direction where he could feel the other's presences.

"Uh, Zarathustra, this is uncomfortable."

The dragon's red eyes glanced down at the man in his talons. He grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, but it's the best place for you right now-not to mention the safest-and I can't get you onto my back right now. Just wait," he said before a figure materialized beneath him. "Okay, Laetitia, ready?"

"Ready!"

He lowered himself closer to the female dragon, spreading out his wings as he glided. No way was he going to flap and risk hitting her. His leg stretched out and he released his grip on the man.

He was placed gently on Laetitia's back before the four set out to help their comrades. They stopped abruptly when Hytimjir't and Aedh appeared before them, just as bloody as they were.

"Did you get them?" Laetitia inquired breathlessly.

"Of course," Aedh answered. "Now we need to get moving before their friends come."

But it was already too late. A bloody bird-like creature rose up behind Aedh, making Cyborg, Raven and Starfire gawk at it, while Robin was confused at their features. The dragons, on the other hand, were growling deeply, eyes narrowed as they bared their fangs.

The creature wasn't at all intimidated by the dragons, but it did do a double-take on Zarathustra's sharp fangs dangling from his jaws. It cawed out sharply before two others rose up, both bloody. One came from behind Laetitia and Zarathustra while the other appeared from where the first one had come from.

They beat their wings feverishly before they dove in together at the dragons.

_Hold on, _the black dragon told Raven sharply.

She clutched the ivory spike before her harder as all of the dragons and Titans took a nosedive. Aedh and Zarathustra nodded to each other, then to Laetitia and Hytimjir't before they leveled out upside down. The darkness and lightning dragons went one way, while the water and fire dragons went another.

The Goth could feel her cloak dangling below her, lashing through the air furiously. The two dragons rolled over so they were flying right-side up and the girl felt the blood that had rushed to her head slowly lower into her body and spread out again.

She cried out when sharp talons dug into her shoulders and she was ripped off of her dragon. He immediately circled around as did the creature, flapping madly after it. She could feel her blood running down her shoulders as the talons dug deeper into her flesh. She looked up at the large bird-like creature-its feathers were rumpled and stained with snow.

It had four legs and its beak was sharp and curved, with a dangerous hook. Its black feathers made it stand out in the blizzard and she found her amethyst eyes glancing back at her dragon. She could see him pondering over something and she knew it was about breathing fire, or dark energy onto the creature.

But she knew he probably wouldn't for fear of harming his vulnerable Rider. If he hurt the creature, its pain would immediately flash into Raven, so all he could do was fly as fast as he could to catch up and share his Rider's pain.

And that was when the girl's eyes grew white. Darkness enveloped her hands and the creature squawked in confusion upon feeling her powers rippling stronger within her. Her lips parted sharply.

"Azarath metrion zinthos!" she exclaimed before a large black claw slammed into the creature.

It cried out before it released the girl to swipe at the claw, but it was already gone. She plummeted downwards before she levitated, but there wasn't any need, for a millisecond after she had levitated in the air, she was back on her dragon's back.

"Sorry, I'm sorry!" she heard him apologizing, glancing back at her worriedly. "It's my entire fault and now you're hurt!"

She could hear the concern in his voice and immediately felt guilty. She rubbed his neck soothingly.

"It's not your fault, Zarathustra. You couldn't have stopped it," she murmured gently.

"Yes I could've. I could've flown faster," he countered, but his voice was shaking.

"If you had flown faster, you would've left Laetitia and Cyborg behind and they would've been the ones feeling this pain," she continued.

"Better them than you. I can't stand to see you in pain," he wailed, red eyes widening.

"I'm fine, really. It doesn't hurt," she lied, trying to comfort him.

But instead all she got was a bitter look.

"You're lying Raven and I know it. If you're really in pain-which I know you are currently-then you shouldn't lie just to make me feel better. You know that."

He shook his head, blinking furiously. She looked down at his black scales and ivory spikes, taking in a deep breath.

"I-I'm sorry…" he murmured again before he made haste to change the subject. "We should find the others."

"First things first: what are those things? Why-when we first saw them, or at least you did-did you call out 'blood?' And what do they want?" she inquired.

Her dragon took in a deep breath and she felt it enter his body. She felt him shudder before he finally replied.

"Those things are what we dragons call 'Blood Singers.' That's why I called out 'blood,' since it's a lot faster than 'Blood Singers.' And what they want is quite simple. Someone's pain is what makes them happy and keeps them alive. They feast on their pain and their blood, giving them the name that they have obtained. Blood Singers will sing a bird-like song-resulting in why they look somewhat like birds-that makes it a lot easier to get someone's blood. They suck someone dry of their blood every day just to stay alive. And if they can't feast, they'll drink one of their own kind's blood just to stay alive.

"They're immortals just like us, but are more difficult to kill. In fact, the one we just attacked _again _is still alive and will come after us. They can only speak telepathically to another and I'm sure others will come soon to back them up. Especially when they hear there are dragons," he explained.

"What do they want with dragons?" she questioned.

"Dragons give them more power when they drink their blood. Not to mention they can drain an entire dragon and not have to drink blood again for a week. Dragons have a specific _nutrition _in their blood that helps them to be harder to kill. The more dragons they steal blood from, the stronger they'll become, in other words," he continued.

"So how do you kill them?"

"If it's dragon to Blood Singer, it could take weeks or months. But, if it's dragon and Rider to Blood Singer, it could take only a short while, but we are all not ready. If we wanted to take down a Blood Singer together, we'd have to see the elves first."

"Isn't that where we're going-to see the elves?"

"Not see the elves, _help _the elves and humans, as well as the others there. As dragon riders, it is our duty to protect the elves and humans with them. But yes, technically we _are _going to see the elves. After we help them, I'm sure they'll help us to learn how to defeat the Blood Singers together. If not they'll already have helped us," he answered.

She nodded before glancing back behind her.

"Looks like we've got trouble," she warned.

"Then let us meet our troubles," he challenged softly, spinning around and hovering in the air.

He roared, talons extending out as he bared his fangs, but the Blood Singer just came closer. It cawed before it dove towards him.

He smirked, jaws parting as a ball of dark energy with darkness sparking through it was shot at it. His attack hit his target directly in the head, making it pull out of its dive and flap lazily towards him.

"Good," he told his Rider, who regarded the Blood Singer with mere interest.

His jaws parted again and flames licked out of his open mouth, greedily snapping and roaring towards the target. The flames enveloped the enemy, hissing and spitting in a steady stream that kept coming.

Raven cocked her head to the side, confused at the sight she saw next. Darkness was mingling with the fire and the flames intensified. Suddenly Zarathustra's jaws clamped shut and he whipped around, talons slashing through the air just in front of Aedh's face.

"HEY! WATCH IT!" the fire dragon roared, making the darkness dragon growl as he looked back to the flames.

"Uh, Raven, is that what I think it is?" Robin's voice asked softly as he nodded towards the flames.

"A Blood Singer? Yep," she answered.

"Yeah, I thought that was one," he commented.

"Aedh told you about them, huh?" she inquired.

"With Hytimjir't," he added.

"Where are they anyways?"

"Right here, friend Raven!" Starfire's cheerful voice exclaimed.

She waved happily across from them on the back of Hytimjir't, whom was spitting out water at the fireball. The flames died to reveal the Blood Singer, its wings beating slowly before they crumpled and it fell.

Its feathers were charred and part of its tail had been lost to the flames. Its skull had clearly caved in partway from the impact of the first attack. Raven felt bad for it, but immediately pushed it off.

_If Zarathustra hadn't of killed it, it could've killed us, _she told herself.

Just then Laetitia and Cyborg appeared.

"Where are the others?" Zarathustra asked.

"They left."

"They what?!"

"They left," Laetitia repeated calmly.

"Not good," he muttered before he turned towards Aedh.

"We _should _leave," the fire dragon commented, nodding to the darkness dragon, all traces of his hostility having disappeared.

The electricity dragon's eyes were fixed on her nose where there was a gash. She whimpered at not being able to lick at it to clean it, then finally gave up. Zarathustra moved closer to her, stretching out his neck as he licked her nose to clean the wound.

"Anyone poisoned-anyone hear the song?" he inquired cautiously, looking around sharply.

"Nope," all the dragons chorused and the black dragon let out a sigh of relief.

"Good, then we can set off," he declared before the dragons began to fly off again.

The Riders were all confused, but their dragons filled them in.

_The Blood Singers have venom in them that can be passed on to help them kill anyone. It can be transferred through wounds, or physical contact with one. Now, the song-also known as the 'Song of Blood'-has an effect similar to the poison. It paralyzes the foe while makes their mind slowly go blank. They'll struggle to do anything, _Zarathustra informed her.

_Then I'm glad no one was poisoned, or heard the Song of Blood, _Raven answered.

_Yes. That's why I was afraid for you. The poison is hard to retract from the body-in fact, unfortunately, only elves know how to do so-but dragon's can help stop the poison from spreading farther for a short while, as well as paralyzing the spot where the blood it. That will help dull the pain and, even though it makes it harder to use, helps greatly in stopping one from dying, _he said.

_So you'd rather have Laetitia or Cyborg die than me?_

_Of course! Even though they are my friends and my family and I care for them deeply, you are my heart and soul. You are my moon and sun. Without you, I am nothing and together we would die. I can't stand to see you in pain, or slowly dying from the poison's effects. I was careless when the Blood Singer carried you away-reckless truly, _he continued.

She was touched by her dragon's words and a small smile crept upon her face. She rubbed Zarathustra's scales happily, glad to have him.

_You know, even if you are over-protective…_

_I am _not _over-protective!_

_I still love having you around. Even if you can be annoying at times, _she finished.

_I… I do not know what to say. I'm flattered, Raven. Thank you, _he said, grinning happily.

_Then don't say anything at all, Zarathustra. Just enjoy the companionship we share together…_

_Don't you mean the family we have become? The twins we are?_

_Are we really like twins?_

_Of course we are! You could easily say all dragons and their Riders are twins. I'm surprised that you haven't noticed, _he answered joyfully.

_Twins… _she murmured gently. _Yes, I do suppose you could say we are twins. Great twins, Zarathustra. Greater than real twins._

_Yes indeed. The mental link we share far exceeds an actual twin's. We share each other's feelings, we feel each other's pain, we know exactly what the other is thinking, and we'll risk our lives to save each other…_

He trailed off, getting a dreamy gaze on his face. Then he seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly wiped it from his face.

_Well, I'd rather you not risk your life to save me. I'd rather die then have you die, or see you in pain. It's better for a dragon to die, then their Rider to die. And a dragon will do anything to save their Rider, even if it means sacrificing our own lives. The life of a Rider is far greater than a life of a dragon, _he said.

_How so?_

_A Rider _is _the future and we just accompany them to make them stronger and to give them hope and courage. The Riders are the kings, the dragons merely the pawns._

_Dragons are _not _pawns, especially not you, Zarathustra. If anything, you're the king._

_I'm flattered, but Riders are the true kings. If anything, dragons are the queens then, _he answered, grinning.

_Better, _she replied, grinning as well.

_Then let us continue with this, Raven._

_Yes, let us._


	13. Nightmares And Poison

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetra)

I do own the five dragons: Zarathustra, Xenos, Laetitia, Hytimjir't and Aedh.

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**Dragon Riders? Recap: **The Dragon Riders are nearing their destination, but dangers are intent on stopping them from completing their journey. Blood Singers-vicious, blood-thirsty vampire-like creatures-attack the dragons and their Riders and those that survived fled the battle. In a desperate attempt to escape their predators, the dragons fly harder and faster. Will they escape their pursuers? Will they reach their destination in time? And what of Beast Boy and Xenos?

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**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

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A/N: Truly sorry for not updating sooner: my computer crashed and I lost everything I was working on. Again, please accept my most humble apologies, my dear readers. I will try and update sooner, but I have been neglecting typing everything up and putting it on the computer-I have long-awaited chapters stuck on paper, not on the computer (including chapters for you, BPF Fan, truly sorry for this) and I need to put them on, then update. Again, accept my humble apologies.

Again, this chapter is dedicated to the wondrous BPF Fan, whom without this story would be nothing. I owe him my many thanks.

Now, please read the long-awaited chapter thirteen. Again, I'm truly sorry for any inconvenience.

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_**Dragon Riders?**_

_Nightmares And Poison_

Worried, emerald eyes glanced backwards through the blizzard, concern evident deep within them. They held nothing secretive; they gave everything away, especially to the one that they currently stared at.

The dragon snorted, forcing his wings to flap harder. This was his weakness; he could feel the ice biting at his leaves that held him aloft, trying to freeze them and force him to plummet from the sky like a bird shot dead.

Only his determination to carry on for his Rider and to help those that needed him kept him going and his wings from freezing on him. The vines that wrapped around his legs showed the ice that had formed on them clearly and he was cold, but he didn't let it show. He just couldn't let it show and fail his Rider and the elves.

He had to keep going, no matter how much pain he was in, no matter how hard it was for him to fly, not even if he was alone with only his Rider as a companion currently. A Rider he couldn't take care of-his _own_ Rider, for Heaven's sakes!

He cursed inwardly at his carelessness and glanced forward before his eyes flickered back to his Rider.

The green changeling was weary from hunger, his gloved hands feebly clutched around his dragon's scaly neck. His once lively, playful emerald eyes were dulling with his weakness and the dragon knew that it was his entire fault.

All because of a simple, stupid, petty mistake! If he had thought about it before they had left, he would've told his Rider to bring some tofu since he was a vegetarian, but he had been so eager and enthusiastic about this entire mission that he had forgotten to remind his Rider to bring some.

And so, being unable to aid his Rider in anyway, he shared his Rider's hunger and pain, eyes focusing on the swirling whiteness before him. Finally deciding something, he tipped his nose downwards and his wings tucked in, following him into a sharp nose-dive.

Before he made contact with the soft blanket of snow that covered harsh, hard ice below, his wings snapped open forcefully and he leveled out before he landed slowly, his talons scraping against the ice below him as he slid a few meters before coming to a halt.

With his Rider perched on his back, he moved forward slowly, his talons searching for something. Finally he stopped, proud of his discovery before he looked back at his Rider, whom bore a confused and puzzled gaze.

"I have found an answer to our problem," the dragon declared triumphantly.

"An answer to what problem?" the changeling asked numbly.

"Why, an answer to your hunger!" the dragon explained, delicately picking up his Rider and placing him before him. "You see, I have found ground-not ice, but earth."

The green teen nodded, still confused, although he was following and listening intently to his dragon's words.

"Continue, please, Xenos," he persisted.

"Of course; as you wish, BB. I have the power of earth and so I can use earth to my will," he said, making Beast Boy nod slowly. "So I could make an edible plant that you can eat!"

"Have you even done this before and if you're going to make a tree, count me out. I'm not eating bark or leaves," the changeling added sharply.

"Well… to be honest, no, I haven't, but I shall try and no, it shall not be a tree," the dragon breathed defiantly, eyes glimmering with determination.

They flashed to the ground sharply and he concentrated hard. For a few seconds, nothing happened before the top of a carrot broke through the snow.

"Eureka!" Xenos cried excitedly.

His talons gripped the top of the carrot and he ripped it from the ground, handing it to his Rider proudly. The gloved hands accepted the food eagerly before they turned into paws and hungry rabbit teeth began to gnaw away at the carrot.

Pleased at his work, the dragon made more, creating more carrots, turnips and lettuce heads. He pulled the carrots out of the ground as well as the turnips, offering his handy-work to his Rider.

He waited patiently until his Rider had finished his meal, beaming proudly all the while. Slowly Beast Boy morphed back into his human form, smiling at his dragon. His usual spark was returning as his hunger was quenched, but the dullness still remained, even if it was almost unnoticeable.

"Thanks, Xenos," the changeling murmured thankfully.

"Thirsty?" the dragon offered.

"You bet."

Nodding, the dragon dug a hole, forcing whatever water he could find to rise and fill the hole. It filled the entire hole to the top-many thanks to the snow that surrounded them and the snowflakes that landed in the water that had been filling the hole, which had melted upon contact and joined the water.

Xenos waited until his Rider had drank his share of the water before he finished the rest greedily, licking his lips thankfully for the refreshing liquid. Their thirsts quenched and Beast Boy's hunger obliterated, the dragon placed his Rider upon his back and launched himself off of the ground.

Even though he had gotten much better at take-off with his oddly-formed wings, he had trouble staying aloft, since nature wanted to annihilate his wings and cause the leaves to drop, browned and deceased, to the ground. His wings beat faster though so this wouldn't happen and, little to both of their knowledge, they were getting approaching danger that would prove to be unforgivable.

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From ahead of him, Zarathustra could sense Aedh's distress, although he was ambiguous as to what caused it. His red eyes narrowed as he stared through the whiteness towards the red dragon, trying to see what was wrong with him.

Slowly, Aedh's wound on his left shoulder began to throb before his left foreleg went stiff, unable to move from its position, which was currently dangling below him at full stretch. The dragon tried his best to ignore it though, his adamant-nature making him continue on as though nothing was happening, even if he was becoming distressed and the other dragons could sense it.

Robin remained oblivious to it, as well as the other three Riders, and if his own Rider couldn't sense it, then why the fire dragon should announce it to everyone to hear was unexplainable to him. It became evident to everyone that something was wrong though when his left wing was in mid-flap it got stuck in that position while his other wing snapped upwards into another flap.

But as soon as his right wing went down though, he turned sharply due to where his left wing was positioned. This confused the Riders and their dragons immensely until the dragons thought it out more. They hovered in place as Aedh spiraled before them, his Rider clutching onto one of his dragon's spikes to avoid dropping off as he sat sideways, trying to figure it all out.

Finally the dragon stopped flapping his right wing and went forward where his nose was pointing, only to see a tree looming before him. He decided he could make it over though, especially since it was in the direction they were supposed to be going in, so he didn't try to turn.

In fact, if it weren't for his left foreleg, he wouldn't have hit the tree. Instead his left paw hit the tree hard, causing his right wing to flap in a desperate attempt to raise himself, which only made his left wing hit the tree and he went down.

The dragons followed swiftly, dipping down to land where the fire dragon had crashed. They crowded around the fire dragon that was scrambling to his feet on three legs. He looked odd this way; one leg dangling while the others supported him.

Zarathustra was the first to move; he stepped towards the fire dragon, inspecting his wound carefully before he pulled his head back up. The Riders were still confused as the black dragon nodded to all the other dragons.

The two remaining dragons backed up, Laetitia taking Raven while Hytimjir't took Robin. They held them at a safe distance as Zarathustra conversed with the odd-looking fire dragon.

"I thought you said that you _didn't _get poisoned," he hissed angrily at his comrade.

"I didn't think I did," Aedh snapped defensively, growling softly at the darkness dragon angrily.

Shrugging, the dragon offered the fire dragon his spear-like tip of a tail. The red dragon glared up at him suspiciously.

"I am _not _taking that in my mouth," he growled. "It'll cut the insides like they're nothing but mere paper!"

"Oh, hush, Aedh. It's the only thing available that you can use and besides, if you just put your teeth on it, nothing will happen. I promise," Zarathustra murmured calmly.

Grumbling, the dragon did as he was told, seizing the metal-like tail in his jaws, teeth gently clamping down on it.

"Are you ready?" the black dragon asked, receiving a nod as a response from the red dragon. "All right, here we go."

He leaned in towards Aedh's shoulder, jaws parting before his sharp fangs pierced into the wound. The fire dragon squealed in pain, his teeth biting hard onto the tail he held in his powerful jaws as his tail snapped upwards, flicking from side to side. Carefully the black dragon ran his fangs down along the dragon's leg, jerking them out to spit into the snow before he resumed.

His movements were cautious, moving down in as small of a line as he could down the paralyzed leg. Every so often he'd take his jaws out and spit out Aedh's blood, but other than that there were no pauses.

Finally he stopped, releasing his fangs from Aedh's leg and spitting out the remainder of the blood onto the ground. His toes wrapped around some snow which he put against Aedh's wound that ran from the top of his shoulder down to where his paw began, making the snow stick to stop the bleeding.

He glanced at the fire dragon, questioning if he could continue and when the dragon nodded curtly again, he placed his mighty fangs into the scaly part of the fire dragon's flaming wings. He moved like a professional, his movements smooth, following the figuring of Aedh's wings.

All the while the red dragon's teeth never left the tail they held in between them. When Zarathustra reached the end of the dragon's large wings, he released his grip on it, spitting out the blood.

His long fangs were the only teeth in the darkness dragon's mouth that were coated in Aedh's blood. Repeating what he did with the wound he had created in the fire dragon's leg, he placed snow on it before he rubbed his fangs in fresh snow to expurgate his coated fangs.

He admired his handy-work, accepting his tail back. It was undamaged and he let it drop softly into the snow.

"Better?" he inquired.

The dragon moved his leg and wing, nodding slowly as he tried to put his leg down, but his shoulder wouldn't move. So he tried his wing, which thankfully moved for him, since it hadn't been damaged by the Blood Singers.

"Yes, thank you," he answered.

"Why, it was my pleasure to help you," the black dragon answered, accepting Raven back. "Would you like me to carry Robin?"

"I'm fine," the fire dragon said defensively.

Nodding at Hytimjir't, the blue dragon placed the confused boy wonder back on his dragon. They took off again, flapping in the air, allowing Aedh to choose the pace they flew at.

_Zarathustra, why did you do what you did to Aedh? _Raven asked mentally.

The dragon's red eyes flickered back to his curious Rider and he grinned.

_Apparently the Blood Singers he fought injected their venom into him and so I had to sanitize his wounds so he wouldn't be paralyzed any longer. You see, a Blood Singer's venom slowly paralyzes those that have the poison concealed within them. Though I haven't rid him of the poison, he'll be able to make it to the elves. The elves are the only ones that know exactly how to properly cleanse a body of a Blood Singer's poison. I did what was necessary though to make him able to make it to them though, _the black dragon explained.

_I know that already, _Raven answered calmly, _And why did you consistently spit out blood?_

_If I were to swallow the poisoned blood, I would too be poisoned, but instead of it working outside in, it would work inside out. I would die if I were to swallow the blood within minutes, since it would take hold of my heart, lungs and brain; the three main things that make a body live. It wouldn't be very commendable if I were to demise so near to our destination, now would it? _Zarathustra continued.

_No, I suppose not, _she answered.

_You only suppose?_

_Fine: I know not, _she corrected.

_Better._

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"Beast Boy; be silent and still," Xenos ordered sternly, narrowing his eyes as he glared ahead of them.

_Why? _he asked mentally, obeying his dragon's orders.

_I sense danger ahead, a crisis that I fear for your safety of, _the dragon answered.

The green changeling grew rigid at this: his dragon had _never _admitted that he was afraid of his safety to his face before, thus meaning that something truly horrid _must_ be in store for them. He felt his arms instinctively tighten around his dragon's neck, although Xenos didn't appear to take note of this.

Instead his powerful flapping slowed so that they were silent as his antennae listened intently. Beast Boy felt Xenos flinch as a loud whistle erupted before his muscles instinctively tensed.

_They appear to be flying in the same direction as we are, _his dragon commented slowly.

_Who is 'they' and how do you know? _the green boy questioned.

'_They' as in Blood Singers and I can tell because their whistles are staying at the same volume consistently, thus resulting in the fact that they _must_ be moving forward, _the dragon explained.

_What are Blood Singers? _Beast Boy asked.

_Blood Singers are vicious, blood-thirsty demons that want nothing more than to kill. They will kill and they will feed upon someone's blood-preferably a dragon's blood, since it has supposed nutrients that make a Blood Singer even strong and harder to kill. They drink whatever blood they can have; sucking their prey dry just to stay alive. The Blood Singers have venom that they inject into their prey to make it easier to murder them, or they sing the 'Song of Blood,' which makes anything within hearing distance drop down, paralyzed and allows them to take blood easier too, _Xenos explained.

_So they kill to survive and they're kinda like vampires? _the green changeling continued.

_In a way, yes, they are like vampires, since they drink someone's blood, although vampires aren't real. Yes, they do kill to survive and if they can't find prey, they drink one another's blood. They're all like enemies to one another in their fight for mere survival, _the dragon answered.

The changeling was going to ask more when a sound caught his ears. It was almost like a human scream, but he knew better. Xenos jerked his head around to gaze behind them, his emerald eyes narrowing as he squinted through the blizzard.

"Do I even _want _to know what that is?" Beast Boy growled as he too gazed behind them in search of whatever made the sound.

"I cannot answer that, my dear Rider; only you can answer that question you have so righteously bestowed upon yourself," the earth dragon murmured.

As the green teen looked forward, a head snapped up before them and his eyes widened at the sight of it.

_Up, up, up! _he cried frantically.

Then, acting upon impulse, he gripped Xenos' antennae and pulled up on them. Immediately the duo went upwards, his dragon's claws slashing the face of whatever it was that had appeared before them. Releasing the antennae, they leveled out sharply and the dragon looked below them to see a blur go below them.

_They're coming, _the dragon hissed mentally as the head; cut, slashed and bleeding appeared before them again.

Beast Boy got a better look at it now; it was a snake's head, with sharp fangs that glistened as the creature parted its jaws and hissed at them. Its snake-like tongue flickered out of its gaping jaws and as the green changeling looked down, he saw arms and legs farther down the scaly body. They were like bird's feet; complete with talons and toes that were made to grip onto anything.

The creature's large, bird-like wings flapped harshly, making it fly just ahead of them as it glowered at them. Its tail split into three sections that ended abruptly with nothing more. This creature was long, its scales coated with snow.

"Gaze into my eyessss, dragon, and your troublesss will be over eternally," it hissed, tongue continuing to flash out of its open jaws.

Xenos refused to meet the harsh amber gaze of the creature, his eyes instead focused on the snow flashing below them. The creature was growing impatient though and instead struck out at the dragon.

Razor-sharp fangs just missed the earth dragon's shoulder and he squealed, his own fangs flashing as he gripped the creature's right wing hard in his powerful jaws. The creature let out a human-like scream, his own fangs fastening into the dragon's shoulder.

Together the two fighters scrabbled together, neither releasing their hold of each other as their talons ran down along each other's scales. Beast Boy began to crawl along his dragon's neck until the creature released Xenos' bloody shoulder and lashed out at him instead.

The green changeling cried out as the fangs fastened themselves in his shoulder and the dragon's emerald eyes narrowed bitterly. He let go of the creature's wing, his jaws clamping shut on his attacker's neck while vines wrapped tightly around the creature's neck just behind its jaw bones.

It opened its mouth instinctively, gasping for air as the teeth and vines cut off its oxygen. But the earth dragon wasn't stopping there; the creature had pushed him too far by attacking his Rider and he wasn't going to end this like so.

Vines wrapped themselves around the snake's wings and limbs, disabling any movements and the creature was forced to dangle helplessly below the dragon. Another vine gripped the creature's jaws shut and finally Xenos released his tight grip on his attacker's neck, but his vines never faltered.

He made the vines drag the creature down below them until it disappeared out of sight. Beast Boy slowly made his way back to his normal position, wincing as he moved his shoulder. He glanced down at his dragon's own shoulder, regarding the blood as it dripped down.

He felt them begin to decline; his dragon went down slowly, landing awkwardly on three legs. He heard Xenos sigh before he lay down, allowing his Rider to slid off of his powerful back.

Breathing in deeply, he felt snow being pushed against his shoulder, sticking there to stop the blood. He looked at his dragon; concern was evident in his dragon's emerald eyes as well as pain, but the dragon refused to show it.

Carefully Beast Boy repeated what his dragon had done to him on Xenos' shoulder, packing the snow on the wound carefully, but hard enough that it would stick. Again the earth dragon sighed, lowering his head as if in defeat.

_I'm sorry, BB; I let you get hurt. It's my entire fault; I'm sorry, _the dragon murmured mentally.

_It is so not your fault, dude, _the changeling replied defensively as his dragon placed him back on his back. _You were doing what you needed to do._

_But I let you get injured, _his dragon countered.

_You didn't let me get hurt; I let myself get hurt, so stop beating yourself up for my mistake, _the green changeling retorted. _Stop it, please._

The dragon sighed through his nose in defeat, jumping into the air and taking off again, his powerful wings beating sharply. Beast Boy leaned down against his dragon's neck, allowing his eyes to close slowly, but the coldness refused to allow him to slumber, and so he lay there, with his eyes closed, trying to clear his mind as he thought of the future and what would happen to them.

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_They're definitely not giving up, _Zarathustra said suddenly, making Raven give him an odd look.

_Who's not giving up? _she inquired.

_The Blood Singers; they've been pursuing us for quite some time now and they're gradually getting closer. Should we just deal with them now, or continue trying to run, where we might accidentally bring them upon the elves that have a war to fight and win? _the dragon explained.

_If you put it that way, we _should _deal with them now._

_Then I shall alert the others of the approaching danger; they should be prepared for this, _the dragon murmured before he broke off contact.

It took about three minutes for Zarathustra to converse with the other dragons and to convince them that they should fight now then later-he had wanted Aedh to be a rearguard for them on account of his injury, but the dragon's adamant nature refused as usual-so now the dragons hovered calmly in the line of battle, awaiting their enemies to appear.

It took a while before the first Blood Singer was spotted-which Laetitia sighted first and alerted the others of-before the rest of the flock joined it. The Riders' eyes widened at the sight of so many enemies and the dragons growled, glowering at Zarathustra, whom cast them all a sheepish smirk before he plunged forward into the oncoming Blood Singers.

Talons and teeth raked through the bird-like creatures and some were tugged towards Earth with a mighty black claw. Flames, water, electricity and dark energy mingled in with everything else, creating what a passerby would classify as a war.

Beaks struck out sharply and some of the Blood Singers at the back began to open their jaws, but were silenced by black energy wrapping itself around their large, black beaks, courtesy of Raven. Soon starbolts and eyebeams were flashing through the sky, along with a blue beam from Cyborg's sonic cannon and bird-a-rangs were whistling through the air, drawing blood from the Blood Singers.

But the Blood Singers weren't the only ones losing blood; dragon's blood dripped down from various wounds, but the dragons had done well in protecting their Riders and each Rider was unharmed, even though they did partake in the battle waging on. And though the dragons and Riders were greatly outnumbered by their enemies, they were bringing them down fast and efficiently, making their odds even higher.

And just as it looked like the dragons wouldn't lose, the battle turned around. Blood Singers crowded around all of the dragons, grappling onto whatever they could. Seven bitter ones grabbed Zarathustra's neck even, near his cheek bone, their beaks breaking through his sharp, powerful scales.

And though the sharpness of his scales greatly harmed them, they didn't release their grip, where the dragon had nothing that could reach them. His talons just fell out of reach of the last bird's tail feathers, and he couldn't turn his head around to grab them. Flames shot out from his jaws instinctively, burning the Blood Singers that managed to flap before his parted jaws.

Sharply his powerful tail snapped up, slamming against a Blood Singer's head hard, drawing blood and making it release its grip as it fell senseless downwards. His tail struck out again as the Blood Singers began to drink his blood, but they had enough sense to move out of the way just before the tail made impact.

And unfortunately for the poor dragon, his tail slashed his neck instead of the Blood Singer he was aiming at. By now he was screaming out in pain, his wings flapping wildly as he tried to shake the attackers from his neck, where they were drinking his blood.

Two fell down at the same time as two claws dragged them down by their necks and the remaining ones, confused and uncertain as to what had taken down their comrades, hesitated, their grip slackening, along the dragon to wrench his neck free.

He glared menacingly at the Blood Singers, flame and darkness enveloping them all sharply. As the disaster before them cleared, Zarathustra shot forward through the smoke, his talons, wings, fangs and tail slashing and murdering any that had survived the impact of fire and darkness.

His left wing tipped and he angled downwards slightly, turning as he went towards the ground, pulling up to be level with Hytimjir't, whom was struggling with the Blood Singers that had attached themselves to her body, sucking her blood from her powerful body.

Talons and wings ripped Blood Singers off of the water dragon, as black claws mingled in with the green starbolts and eyebeams. Starfire yelled a quick thank you as she and her dragon progressed forward, free of the Blood Singers that had so cruelly ambushed them, allowing Zarathustra and Raven to move farther out.

The dark girl could see blood running down rapidly from her dragon's many wounds on his neck and she shared his pain. The black dragon was shaking his head as he tried to clear his blurred vision from blood loss and they were flying wherever his powerful wings carried them, which happened to be towards Aedh.

Too late the dragon caught sight of the fire dragon and crashed into him hard, knocking both dragon and Rider backwards, but this caused the Blood Singers to disperse at this, only to be viciously attacked by Zarathustra's flashing tail.

"Back off, idiot!" Aedh roared in the darkness dragon's face.

The two dragons were attached to each other, fighting to get free before they hit the snow which was swiftly approaching.

_Zarathustra, fly up! _Raven urged.

_I cannot; I cannot get free from Aedh's grasp, _the dragon answered shamefully.

The Goth looked around frantically before her eyes caught sight of Zarathustra's sharp, gleaming and powerful horns that protruded from his head just a little bit before his ears. Immediately realization dawned on her as she recalled her dragon's important words of information.

Slowly she made her way along his neck, careful not to touch any of his bleeding wounds. As she passed the one he made by himself, she grimaced; it was deep, bleeding cruelly and the muscles there were torn, ripped apart by the merciless spear-like tail tip. She looked away from it sharply continuing her climb until she was in arm's reach of his horns.

Her pale grey hands grasped a horn in each one before she gently tugged upwards. It took immediate affect-Zarathustra's wing tips moved upwards as they flapped, trying to make him go up-although they didn't move from their position, due to Aedh. So Raven tugged upwards harder and the dragon went in a vertical line upwards, leaving the fire dragon to level out and fly down below them.

The Goth dangled; her only means of holding her onto her dragon was his horns. Zarathustra's red eyes widened and he made his gaze slowly focus on his Rider.

_Level out then let go, _he said urgently, closing his eyes.

The girl nodded slowly, looking at the horns she held in her hands. Ever so slightly she pulled downwards, but it wasn't enough for they were still going up. She continued to gradually make him level out though-she wasn't in the mood to do anymore drastic changes in flight again.

And obediently she released Zarathustra's horns as soon as they were level, carefully making her way back to her normal position, minding his wounds. The dragon's wings flapped hard before he dipped down, turning sharply to make his way back towards the fight.

_Zarathustra, you're in no condition to fight; land, _Raven ordered sharply, realizing what her dragon was doing.

He merely shook his head, answering with a sharp and curt: _I cannot land now, Raven; I must help them. This is my entire fault, _before he opened his jaws and roared.

The darkness dragon made himself go faster, tucking in his wings close to his sides so he would be smaller and pick up more speed. The Blood Singers came up fast and they made a hard impact; some of the bird-like creatures were sent to the side from the force, others were forced up, others down, some managed to get missed and flew by Raven madly and the select few got caught on Zarathustra's chest, or in his powerful talons.

He squeezed the life out of the two that he held in his fore talons, allowing their blood to drip down into the swirling whiteness below. He opened his jaws, hissing as his dragon-like tongue snaked out of his parted jaws. His blood red eyes flashed wildly as he bit down into a Blood Singer's neck, allowing its blood to squirt out into his jaws, staining his fangs before he dropped it, senseless and silent, towards the ground.

His tail slashed cruelly in the air, cutting through any flesh and feathers that it managed to hit like it was nothing more than paper. Flames seeped out of his gaping mouth, scorching anything that managed to get into the hungry flames' way.

Anything Zarathustra passed didn't make it out alive, whether it was slain by he himself, or by his Rider that aided him immensely. Eventually the war had ended and the six remaining Blood Singers fled swiftly, cawing and croaking as they disappeared, their blood dripping from their wounds, their beaks stained in blood.

The dragons made no move to pursue them though; they landed to inspect their injuries and to heal any that they could. The black dragon sighed as he landed in the snow, wiping the Blood Singers' blood from his talons, tail, fangs and body. Raven's hands, glowing in a blue aura, moved silently and smoothly over his wounds, healing them as it did so. She progressed from his neck ones-the most serious ones-to the minor ones.

Laetitia grinned brightly at the black dragon, her eyes glowing with pride for the dragon. She opened her jaws to speak.

"See, guys, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" she inquired, continuing to smile. "Zarathustra told ya we should defeat them now; imagine what would've happened if we hadn't of done what we just did!"

Murmurs of agreements rose from the dragons, all save Aedh, who huffed bitterly.

"Well, we wouldn't be so injured if we _hadn't _of attacked them now; the elves and humans could've helped us," he snorted.

Laetitia narrowed her eyes and Zarathustra scoffed in disapproval at the fire dragon.

"The elves and humans have a better war to fight. We couldn't let the Blood Singers attack them now," Laetitia snarled.

Hytimjir't nodded approvingly, smiling brightly at the electricity dragon. The red dragon grumbled, turning away from them, closing his black eyes. He breathed in, opening them when he felt his wounds being healed.

He looked beside him to see Raven healing his wounds and his adamant nature wanted to shoo her away, but he just couldn't. Her healing powers were helping him and were taking away the pain, not to mention she was actually being kind to him, which he was accepting with joy.

She left to tend to the yellow dragon, leaving the fire dragon to rise groggily to his paws, picking up Robin carefully and placing him on his back. He stomped his paws in the snow; it was melting all around him and he was constantly moving to avoid being injured by nature.

Finally he pounced into the air, his powerful wings holding him aloft. The other dragons didn't mind the fact that he was hovering nearby; they all waited patiently as the Goth healed their wounds before they rose carefully to their paws, joining Aedh in the air. Hytimjir't glanced at all the dragons before asking a question that obviously told them that her Rider had asked her the same question.

"How much farther until we reach the elves?" she inquired, asking any of the other three-six-that might know the answer.

"Not too far," Zarathustra answered. "We're almost there."

The water dragon nodded in unison with her Rider and Laetitia bobbed her head excitedly.

"Good; I'm ready to help those in need!" she exclaimed enthusiastically.

She shuffled slightly on the cloud she rested on, the electricity surging between her horns picking up speed sharply with her excitement. She cracked her tail behind her and lightning lit up the sky, fading away sharply.

Her slits for eyes focused ahead of them and she opened her massive jaws, emitting a large, ferocious roar from deep within. The three other dragons chorused in-celebrating their victory that they were sure they would have-before they set off at a speedy pace to their much-awaited destination.

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Beast Boy opened his eyes to his dragon's soft, careful moans. The howling wind almost made them inaudible and so the green changeling thanked his acute hearing. He shivered slightly before he touched his dragon's scaly neck tentatively.

_Hey, Xenos, what's wrong, dude? _he questioned.

The dragon's moans stopped abruptly and his emerald gaze focused on his Rider. His eyes immediately widened and he shook his head, looking ahead of them.

_What do you mean?_

_Don't play innocent and stupid, Xenos, _Beast Boy said. _You know exactly what I mean._

He moved his leg and he felt his dragon tense up beneath him sharply. He glanced down to see his leg rubbing against the snow coating his dragon's shoulder wound and immediately felt guilty. He moved his leg back, regarding the snow; it had changed to a soft crimson colour-from the blood, he estimated.

_Oh; sorry, dude… I never knew. We should land and get that looked at, _he apologized swiftly.

_It was a mere accident; besides, we cannot land. We're already so far behind the others that we cannot afford to stop, or slow down. We _must _reach them and the elves in time, _the dragon answered with powerful determination.

_Xenos, land before I have to make you do so; you're in no position to continue on like this and besides, what good are you to the elves if you cannot fight from your injury? _he countered.

The dragon huffed, flapping on in silence as he pondered over this, fuming over what to do. Finally he let out a defeated sigh from his powerful nostrils, dipping his head in shame before he glanced behind him at his Rider. There was deep sympathy in his emerald eyes as he regarded Beast Boy's calm, concerned ones.

_I'm sorry, BB… you're right and I _should _land, therefore I _shall _land, _Xenos murmured, pointing his nose downwards.

His wing tips followed his nose and they began their careful decline towards Earth, his legs stretching out to accept the rapidly approaching ground. His muscles bunched as he hit, his talons digging through the snow into the hard earth below. He lay down, allowing his Rider to drop to the snow easily.

Beast Boy turned around, carefully taking the snow from Xenos' shoulder wound. He let it drop to the ground, inspecting the wound. It was two, deep holes where the powerful fangs had pierced both scales and flesh, tearing through his muscles there.

The green changeling ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes.

"Just too bad we're separated from the others; Rae could heal this," he said.

"There's more to wanting to be with the others, isn't there?" the dragon teased.

The green teen glared at his dragon before his gaze softened and he shrugged his shoulders innocently, packing snow gently onto the wound.

"Dunno," he said sweetly, running his gloved hand over the snow-covered wound gently, making sure the snow wasn't going to fall off.

He clambered onto his dragon's back, making sure that his legs didn't slip and press down onto the wound. He wrapped his arms around his dragon's neck tentatively to make sure he wouldn't fall off when his dragon left the ground, feeling Xenos' powerful muscles heaving himself to his massive paws.

They launched high into the air, the branch and leaves working powerfully to keep them aloft. The wind tore bitterly at the leaves, begging them to play with it while the coldness wanted to kill it; murder it like what they would do to the enemies that they would face whilst aiding the elves, their main allies, the ones whom had granted the Titans their brave, powerful dragons, without whom they wouldn't be making this dangerous, perilous journey and would instead be back in Jump City, playing video games, eating pizza and occasionally stopping the odd villain.

And now here these five, courageous and ambitious superheroes-and super heroines-were, prepared to save the entire world-with the help of the elves and their dragons, of course, as well as other humans that aided the elves. Without their dragons, they'd never know of all the mythical creatures-which they presumed were unrealistic-truly thrived along with the elves.

Of course, who would ever think of traveling to these places just to try and find these mythical creatures? Many would believe that they would survive in an atmosphere that wasn't as cold and bitter as the one that they lived in currently.

That was why-Beast Boy presumed-they stayed here, to escape the limelight and pressure of being found out. Besides, what would humans say when they save elves, dwarves, unicorns, et cetra running about before their eyes in the midst of a war against their enemies?

Humans-in their natural, greedy and ambitious states-would most certainly try and capture their newly found discoveries of mythical creatures proved real, holding them in captivity to do their own bidding. The unicorns and pegasus would most certainly be forced to compete in races and jumping events-like normal horses would-elves and dwarves would be held on display, or forced to work and who knows what would happen to other things.

But what the elves feared the most of was of the dragon eggs-humans would definitely steal them from them, trying to make them hatch. That way they could hunt the 'brutal beasts' and kill them, stealing their talons, horns, fangs, spikes-whatever would prove worthy and they could sell for a great amount of money.

To the elves, only the humans that proved themselves and the Dragon Riders could be trusted. Any other human must be murdered and slain, for fear of what could happen if they alerted other humans of their whereabouts.

But, little to the Dragon Riders' knowledge, even greater danger was approaching their main allies, a danger that would prove formidable and unforgivable to them. A foe that they must take down fast, or run the risk of being murdered and slain themselves. Their time-and the elves' time-was running out fast.


	14. Heartless Winds

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetera)

I do own the six dragons: Zarathustra, Xenos, Laetitia, Hytimjir't, Aedh and Ayla.

* * *

**Dragon Riders? Recap: **In the battle with the Blood Singers, Aedh was cruelly poisoned, and though Zarathustra did what he could, Aedh still isn't fully healed. Their only hope now is to reach the elves as soon as possible. And as Beast Boy and Xenos still follow the others, they are met head-on with danger from a large, snake-like creature. Not to mention the Blood Singers that had fled from the battle had returned with even more, in a desperate attempt to at least bring down one dragon and Rider, resulting in a bloody war with the dragons and their Riders as the victors. Will they reach the elves before they all perish?

* * *

**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust) 

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

Ayla: Eh-lah

* * *

A/N: _Dragon Riders?_ is back in action yet again! Huzzah! My apologies for this taking so long. I was origionally planning on uploading five chapters at a time, but my computer was moving ridiculously slow. I had to restart this chapter too, since the stupid computer 'repair' guy deleted all of my stuff and such. Anyways, here it is, chapter fourteen! Enjoy._**

* * *

**_

_**Dragon Riders?**_

_Heartless Winds_

_Raven, look! Down below us; do you see him?_

The words penetrated through Raven's concentration, and her violet eyes opened. She looked down below them, squinting into the swirling whiteness, but she saw no one there. She leaned down a little, but still to no avail.

_I don't see anyone, _she answered calmly.

_Then allow me to help you._

She almost gasped as everything became brighter. Her wings flapped through the air in powerful strokes to keep her body aloft; her sharply curved talons almost scratched her paws; her tail blew in the breeze, controlled as it moved to help them move. Her vision moved downwards, bringing the ground up closer.

That was when she saw him, running as fast as he could. Her vision cleared more, and instead of showing the heat in his body, it showed the elf himself. His bow was held in his right hand; his sword was held in a sheath that dangled from his black belt; his elfish ears twitched, and his quiver of arrows rested on his shoulder.

He seemed to have no trouble in the snow, and when he disappeared, Raven had no idea what happened.

_Where'd he go? _she inquired, and she was back in her own body.

_That I am unsure of; perhaps in an underground tunnel, _Zarathustra suggested. _That must mean we're close if we spotted an elf._

He looked at the others, then flapped harder and faster to catch up to Aedh. The fire dragon didn't seem to mind this at all, nor did Robin.

"We're almost there," the darkness dragon roared sharply.

"Yes, we must be for I saw an elf!" Laetitia agreed.

"Correction, _we all _saw an elf," Hytimjir't answered slowly.

Aedh nodded, his red eyes narrowing.

"I think the snow is lessening up there; that must be where the war is," he commented.

"Agreed," the other three chorused.

This set a newfound vigor in all the dragons, sending them forward faster and harder. And it was true; the snow had dissipated around them when they drew nearer to the battleground.

And it wasn't the noises that set all of them restless. No, instead it was the deathly silence. That is, until they saw the wall of the base, where a cheer erupted when they saw the elves and humans.

Elves chattered excitedly in their elfin language, and the humans continued to cheer loudly, pumping their arms into the air, their swords gleaming.

"Well, I guess that elf was a runner," Zarathustra mumbled, grinning slowly.

They flew over their allies' heads, turned around and landing on the ground, where surprisingly it was clean, apart from some blood left on the cold, hard ground. A female elf-Raven remembered her from her dream as the elfin lady on the horse-ran up to them, bowing courteously, touching two fingers to her lips before them before straightening.

"We thank you graciously for coming to aid us, Dragon Riders," she said in the English language – she appeared to have no problem doing so whatsoever.

"Why is it so quiet?" Robin inquired.

"The battalions of the enemy have departed to send yet another wave to attack us. We figure that we have approximately three hours before they come at us again," she explained. "Now come, Kachig and I will prepare you all for battle – wait, were there not supposed to be ten of you in all, for I only see eight?"

All of the eight's faces fell at the mention of this.

"Two of us are still out there somewhere," Robin answered. "We couldn't find them anywhere."

"Then we'll make do with what we have. Come now, Dragon Riders, and prepare yourselves for battle!"

* * *

Raven shifted uncomfortably as the coat of mail was placed on her, and she was stripped of her leotard and cape. Instead she wore breeches and a white shirt, just like the rest of them. She supposed it was some sort of elfin custom for battle. 

The sword she held in her hand felt awkward, and the duo of daggers in the sheaths placed on both of her hips felt like they were dragging her down. She looked down at her sword; it had two blades, one at both ends and at the handle in the middle, it split into three sections.

Two of them made an arc around the straight part, making it look like a circle. She tapped the larger blade lightly on the rocky ground, sending sparks flying. Her amethyst eyes flickered to the others.

Starfire's bow was a tan colour with white designs on it, with arcs in the middle. The string was thin, but strong and easy to bend. On her back was a quiver of arrows, all sharp, and their tails made of lush feathers.

Robin had a rapier-a thin, long sword-that glittered in the light. It was sharp and to the point, the hilt being a creamy white colour. Silver wrapped around the hilt, creating a complex design, and yet it was catchy. The craftsmanship was unexplainable, and yet beautiful.

Cyborg had a short axe, which he held in his hand like it was nothing. The blade curved inward then out, sharp and dangerous. On the backside, an emerald was placed, and a blade sprouted, almost in the shape of fire. The craftsmanship was unexplainable, and yet the hilt was a shiny jet black, almost like marble. Another emerald shaped like a diamond was placed in the hilt, and at the bottom of the axe, it curved out into two separate blades the front curling down towards the hilt, the other fanning out above the first. It was almost as though a claw gripped it onto the axe.

She pulled out one of her daggers to examine it. The hilt was blood red and the crafting was unexplainable. If it wasn't used to kill, it'd be a thing of beauty. There were two sharp points on either side of the blade that curved upwards. The other was identical, hidden within the blood red sheath.

Hanging on the stone wall behind her was another coat of mail, with a long, powerful sword beside it. Near the top of the hilt was an almost transparent gem, followed by the brown wood of the hilt. There were two parts of it flowing off to the side, with claws at the tips before they curved downwards, slightly inwards. It was golden with a ruby in the centre. The blade itself curved in and out in an explicit pattern, the tips growing sharper until tiny pieces sprouted out, and the blade turned into a normal blade. There was a design in the blade, but Raven couldn't make it out.

She looked up sharply as the sound of metal clinking together approached. A large face emerged from the darkness, warm breath blowing against her, blowing her hair. Zarathustra's blood red eyes peered out at her from behind his face plate. His entire neck was coated in armor, as well as his tail, leaving only the spear-like tip showing. He bore a saddle with brown straps that ran around his chest and stomach, with a ruby placed in the center of his neck strap that landed just above his breast plate.

He appeared uncomfortable in his armor, but at least his body, wings, legs and bottom of his head were left unarmored. It allowed him to maneuver easily, even if he wasn't protected. The chances of him getting hit in one of those places were slim to none, if not anything at all.

_Are you ready, Raven, for today is the day where we save the world. This is the war that we fight not only for the elves and their allies, but everyone who populates this planet. If we fail, the entire Earth will be doomed, _he commented slowly, nuzzling her lightly with his muzzle.

_I know that, Zarathustra. I know that we cannot fail, and that we cannot lose. We must win, no matter the cost._

He closed his eyes, breathing out a puff of smoke around her before the corners of his jaws curved upwards slightly.

_Then you are ready._

Immediately his nature changed; he pulled himself fully out of the darkness, standing beside Raven, his nose pointed over the edge of the cliff they stood upon, the entrance to the elves' base. His nose scrunched up and he frowned deeply, his body stiffening.

_Death is coming; I can sense it _and _smell it, _he commented harshly.

He flattened his ears and jerked his head up, his red eyes glaring over the edge.

Suddenly an elf appeared beside them, startling Raven slightly; she hadn't even heard him approach. Zarathustra glanced at him calmly, all signs of his earlier demeanor gone. The elf bowed, touching two fingers to his lips, which Raven mimicked, deciding that that was what elves did to greet each other.

"Your friend Aedh was poisoned by a Blood Singer," he commented. "There wasn't a lot of poison though" – he seemed surprised at this, but continued – "and so it didn't take long for our healers to fully take out the poison. Was he not bitten badly, Darkscales?"

Zarathustra blinked thoughtfully at the elf, bobbing his head slowly.

"He was indeed bitten badly, enough to paralyze his wing and leg," the darkness dragon murmured.

The elf seemed taken aback. "Then what occurred?"

"I retracted the poison from him."

The elf blinked in shock, eyes widening. He muttered something under his breath before looking up at them again.

"Is there poison within you, Darkscales?"

The large black dragon snorted, a deep rumble rising in his throat as he chuckled. Twin jets of flame escaped his nostrils before he finally composed himself.

"Do you doubt me, elf?"

"Of course not, Darkscales; I apologize for offending you. If there is anything you need, tell us, and we will be happy to oblige."

"A dragon needs nothing to make them happy, but companionship."

"Of course, Darkscales," the elf murmured, bowing again, touching two fingers to his lips before departing sharply.

Raven glanced at her dragon quickly, confused at what had happened.

_Dragons are held in a high position upon elves. We are higher than you, and higher than their kings and queens._

_Then where are we ranked?_

_Below the kings and queens – about there somewhere._

She nodded slowly.

_It is good to know Aedh's poison was retracted fully, _Zarathustra commented. _I was afraid it would take much longer, even if the elves' healers are highly skilled in magic and healing alike._

She nodded again, glancing over the edge of the cliff before looking behind her at Starfire and Hytimjir't. The alien seemed clueless to her surroundings, chattering excitedly with her dragon as if nothing were going on.

At the other cliff across from them, Robin sat upon Aedh's back, who perched perilously on the edge, rocking back and forth with impatience, occasionally breathing out a puff of smoke or fire in irritation.

Laetitia bounced up and down behind the fire dragon, nipping at his tail at times, and trying to catch it, but never succeeded. Though the fire dragon didn't look back, he always flicked his tail out of the lightning dragon's reach. Cyborg sat on a rock near his dragon, working on his parts silently.

At the exact same time, an elf appeared on both sides, repeating the greeting.

"Dragon Riders, it is time. Mount upon your dragons and prepare yourselves for the fight," they said simultaneously. "May your swords stay sharp, and your fire burn strong and bright."

They departed after they bowed and touched two lips to their mouths. Raven glanced across the ledge to see Cyborg clambering onto Laetitia's back before he finally got her to stop attacking Aedh's tail. She looked around her for a bit before she placed the helmet on her head, taking her sword as well. As she made her way carefully onto the saddle situated on her dragon's back, she glanced behind her to see Starfire smiling brightly at her, sitting upon Hytimjir't calmly.

She offered the alien a soft smile in encouragement, though deep down inside, the empath was hurting. She knew that no matter what happened there would always be a loss. It was unavoidable, and she knew there was nothing left to do.

She sighed softly, and Zarathustra turned his massive head to her.

_It is all right, Raven. Try not to think of that too much – I'm certain things will turn out for the better. _When she nodded softly, he touched his muzzle to her body softly. _I am glad. Now, do not fear in the battlefield. Be silent for now so we do not destroy our surprise attack._

She nodded again, breathing in deeply. Her heart ached, but she did her best to ignore it, taking her dragon's advice. She had to admit, though he was young he was wise. He swung his massive head around, his jaws open in anticipation. She could feel his excitement radiating off of him, and she knew that the battle couldn't be too far now. He moved his haunches around like a cat waiting to pounce, which was almost exactly what he was right now.

This was a game of cat and mouse, where if you were the mouse, you could be killed, as well as the cat. Raven shuddered slightly upon thinking of it like that, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply to calm herself so her powers wouldn't do something drastic.

She could hear shouts bouncing off the walls of the bowl-like pass below before she heard the pounding of many feet. She wondered why they would be so noisy when they were trying to attack the enemy, but her dragon was quick to fill her in.

_They try to 'intimidate' their opponents, however it doesn't work against the elves, or the humans, or us, for the matter._

A sly grin was plastered to his face, and he nodded to Aedh lightly. Both dragons curled their heads up so that the enemies wouldn't spot them if they were to look up. All the empath could do was hold her breath, waiting for her dragon to launch himself over the edge and start the attack. She trusted him with all of her being, hoping that he knew exactly when to do it, since she couldn't see over the edge.

She felt his feet lift off the ground before she felt his muscles bunch. His wings snapped open silently and he did a sharp nose-dive without a sound. Aedh followed suit, Hytimjir't close behind before Laetitia followed. It surprised Raven only slightly upon seeing the thick mass of bodies gathered below.

Without even scrutinizing any of them she knew none of their allies were gathered in there – they were waiting for the first attack before going in. The four dragons let out a blood-curdling roar which would've sent fear into the empath if she were not apart of them.

The mass of swirling bodies stopped, stunned slightly by the noise before they looked up. They didn't even have a chance.

Zarathustra's jaws opened and a jet of flame flew forth. The other three dragons followed suit – Hytimjir't had a bit of difficulty before her flame worked. The four of them split up in different directions, the steady stream of fire never ceasing to flow freely from their maws. Raven could smell the stench of burning flesh, and the cries of agony flooded her ears, drowning out all else.

Pity formed within her for the poor souls that were losing their life to the cruel red element.

_It's either them or us, _the darkness dragon reminded her softly upon feeling her disapproval, but that wasn't to say he himself did not feel guilt for killing so many.

Raven nodded slowly, taking another deep breath to contain herself again. She heard Zarathustra's teeth click together as he snapped his jaws shut, ending the deadly flame that protruded forth from his mouth. She peered around his long, thick neck to see the elves and the humans racing towards the battle. Those with swords rushed in, whilst those with bows stayed back to shoot from afar.

The dragon turned sharply back the other way, his blood red eyes watching down below. He lowered himself closer to the swells wherever the fire did not continue to burn, clawing at the enemies below.

_What do I do? _she asked him after a short while.

_Well, if you want I could land and let you fight, but I advise that we don't do such a hasty move as such just yet – it could prove fatal. However, I would suggest that you wait patiently for those that come close enough to feel the power of your blade, _he commented with a tad bit of hesitation.

She nodded lightly, feeling his back end lower down as he swung his tail forward, slashing through ogres as he did so. His head snapped down as he grabbed one tightly in his jaws, jerking his head upwards, its spear sailing through the air.

It took little brain usage for the half-demon to know that that ogre had been planning on trying to spear her dragon. A sense of anger wafted over her that one would try to hurt Zarathustra. It just wasn't right. Leaning over his side, she slashed out wildly at a gigantic ogre, her blade cutting through his head easily like he was paper. Blood dripping from the blade, she raised it up to her level again, fixing her seat on the dragon's back again.

_Well done, _he praised her.

She nodded her head, accepted his appraisal with pride. However, it seemed to calm her down more from just killing that ogre – perhaps it helped her heart in some way, as if they were the ones that took Xenos and Beast Boy away from them. She shuddered lightly before she fled the thought, shaking her head to focus on the battle.

_Come on, Raven. You don't let your mind wander on the battlefield. Especially not when it could cost you your life, _she told herself mentally.

She heard bellows from below her, and she looked downwards to see ogres and other beasts chasing after them, their spears, swords, axes and maces all ready to attack them. Upon sensing his Rider's distress, the dragon flicked his blood red gaze behind and below them. He snorted, shaking his head.

_Insignificant fools, _he snorted in disgust. _Ah well, there future appears obsolete. However, it appears that they will die just as their ancestors did when the elves and dragons first fought alongside each other. _

A smile spread across his maw, and in a sharp movement that almost sent Raven off the side spun around, spreading out his large wings. He hovered in the air, his tail pointing downwards, his belly to the air and his neck bent so he could gaze upon the pitiful enemy. He swung his tail forward whilst he slashed out with his talons, slaying many easily.

Though that was not to say he himself did not suffer damage, for those that he missed jabbed their weapons into his large paws and legs, some even trying to hit his stomach. With a squeal, he flapped his wings as hard as he could, letting out a gust that sent weapons that were in the air flying back at them whilst those surrounding them were sent into the sky, their limbs flailing about.

Without hesitation he propelled them straight into the air, the dark enchantress clinging onto the ivory spike before her so she wouldn't fall off. Cocking his head to the side, letting his gaze fall down below them, he leveled out, seeming pleased with their height. He curved his hind legs around and curled his neck so he could inspect the wounds on the bottoms of his paws, licking them tenderly to see the damage better.

A low growl resounded in his throat before he snapped his head downwards, glowering at those gathered below them.

_They will pay for what they have done,_ he snarled mentally.

Without a word Raven crawled turned around, crawling along his back, careful not to slide off and plummet to the ground – not to say Zarathustra wouldn't catch her. She sat on his tail now, one hand clutching an ivory spike while the other endeavored to reach his foot.

"Let me see," she murmured, trying her best to reach his paws.

Moving his body slowly, he swung his left hind leg – which had received the most damage – up as close as he could to his haunches before he maneuvered his tail around carefully so that she could see the wounds. Leaning over, she felt the power flow through her body to her hands.

A blue aura surrounded them, and she moved them over the wounds, healing the slashes as best as she could, though the blood still remained, some of it clotting between his scales now. She waited for him to put his left leg down before bringing his right hind leg up, moving his tail yet again so she could heal the gashes on that paw too.

Pleased with her work, she clambered back up his tail and back until she was situated between his wings and his neck yet again.

_Thank you,_ he murmured, turning his head to her so she could see his genuine grin.

She nodded, a soft smile gracing her lips again until he swung his head back around.

"Well, then, shall we continue?" he inquired aloud this time.

Flicking his tail in anticipation, and without waiting for her answer, he began his descent; his jaws opened in excitement, and his blood red eyes narrowed with his resentment towards those horrid beasts. Raven couldn't hold back her ecstasy either, and a malicious smirk appeared on her features for just a short while.

She was saving the world, wasn't she?

The ghastly creatures were approaching rapidly due to Zarathustra's vastly gaining speed, but the girl felt like they were moving in slow motion. Wings snapping out sharply, the dragon leveled out just before they hit the ground, which would successfully crush many of those beings.

The half-demon's amethyst orbs caught sight of a red blur moving towards them swiftly, and it was only a few seconds before her eyes processed that it was indeed Aedh and Robin. The dragon's flaming wings flared in the air, and his tail dragged along behind them as low as it could go, burning many. His talons scraped out in front of them at random intervals, clawing at anything that dared to get in their way – he made sure to avoid their allies, however.

And to anyone who didn't know those two dragons and their Riders would surely believe that they headed towards a head-on collision. Apparently that was not the case, for just before they were about to make contact, the two dragons rolled so that one of their wings reached for the sky whilst the other brushed the enemies below.

As soon as they were far enough away from each other they straightened back out, each going their separate ways. Zarathustra seemed exhilarated, as if this was the most fun he had ever had in his life. Just slaying those other mythical creatures as if it were in his nature to do so.

Perhaps that was in his nature, though. Maybe even in all dragons' natures, for they all appeared to be doing this job with such ease, such grace. Such calamity. It could even be called unholy what they were doing.

And neither the dark dragon nor his Rider saw it coming until it actually happened.

Both were fixated upon what disasters were occurring on their left side that they never even glanced over to the right.

A large ogre had planted himself on a ledge, as if awaiting the duo to come by. For as soon as he caught sight of them, he hurled himself towards them, knowing full well that at the speed they were at he would need to give himself a good head start.

The impact of his large body sent Raven sprawling to the ground, leaving a confused and startled Zarathustra to stop as quickly as he could and spin around. The empath looked up at the ogre, whose eyes held only mere hatred and bitterness within. Lifting his axe high above his head, the girl knew her fate, but she weakly lifted her double-sided sword up to protect herself. She heard her dragon roar somewhere, but she didn't know where. She saw the axe coming down towards her, gaining speed the closer it got to her.

She felt something grab the cuff of her shirt underneath the mail, jerking her out of the way as softly as possible. She wondered how Zarathustra got there so fast until she saw him shoot forward quickly towards the ogre. His talons and fangs tore at him as he flew by, his tail finishing him up before he lifted into the air, turning around.

The girl blinked, surprised at this all. It didn't make any sense to her at all – who could've saved her so quickly?

She turned her head to see a grim green face staring straight ahead until it seemed to feel her gaze upon it. The creature turned his head to her, its emerald eyes gleaming, pointed elfin ears sticking out. But alas, the most unique thing was the canine tooth that protruded from its jaws.

She had thought he was dead, or even lost for good! Yet here he was, sitting upon his dragon's back as if nothing had happened. He offered her a small smile, lifting her up higher to sit upon Xenos' back before him.

"How did you… when did you… what…?" she inquired, not knowing how to ask her question.

"That doesn't matter right now," he said softly. "What matters is that the team is back together again, even though you guys started the war without us."

He chuckled dully at that. Just as the empath was about to say more, Zarathustra appeared at their side, his blood red eyes worried.

"Glad to see you both back," he remarked with as much bliss as he could muster. "However, I'll take Raven now so the elves can suit you both up. Neither are you are quite fit for war yet."

Xenos' jaws opened to shoot back a sharp retort, but he closed them upon understanding what the other dragon was talking about. Nodding to his Rider, he offered the black dragon a small smile.

"Of course, Zarathustra. We wouldn't like to steal the glory from you," he teased.

"Despicable!" the dark dragon cried out.

The changeling and his dragon merely chuckled softly before Beast Boy offered Raven his hand to help her over.

"I've got it," she answered, adding in a quick: "Thank you" much to his surprise.

She jumped easily onto her dragon's back, settling down quickly. The two dragons swerved away from each other, one returning to the battlefield whilst the other went to retrieve his and his Rider's armor.

"So, it appears that you've got your happy ending," Zarathustra teased frivolously.

"Sure. Whatever you say."

He smiled, blinking leisurely. "You know it's true. You're happy that they both survived that," he continued.

"Just drop it," she snapped, feeling her cheeks heat up.

Without another word, the dragon dropped down to the ground, swinging his tail out around them to clear out a small space.

"Care to fight on the ground?" he inquired.

"You bet," she said with a grin.

Her left hand was incased in a black aura while her right hand held her double-ended sword. She turned sharply upon hearing a noise to her right, slashing out at an oncoming dwarf dressed in armor. Her blade sliced through the metal as if it were a thin string. She was quick to block magic attacks coming in from warlocks, and when she saw a large group approaching all at once, she set out herself a shield.

However she need not have done such a thing, for almost before she saw them her dragon slashed them away with a mere flick of his tail.

_You fight well by yourself,_ he commented with a smile.

He suddenly winced, a screech rising up from within him. In a sharp movement he grabbed Raven in his jaws carefully, being sure to grab onto the coat of mail only before he launched himself into the air. He flung her onto his back, roughly but gently enough to not hurt her.

"Zarathustra, what are you doing?" she questioned.

His entire body tensed up before convulsing violently and a ragged cry escaped his jaws. When she reached out to touch his mind – which he had retracted from hers violently – she felt a barrier surrounding him.

"What's wrong?" she asked with urgency in her voice, but when her dragon didn't answer, she put in more determination into her voice. "Why won't you let me in?"

He snapped his head to face her, his closed eyes now snapping open. There was pain and anger in his blood red eyes, and they flashed with defiance unheard of. There was a scream that resounded from the walls of the canyon, and Raven caught sight of a white blur shooting into the air.

The dragon propelled himself towards the unknown object, his body no longer convulsing with his agony. Nor did it seem as though it were conceived by pain. When the object stopped moving, Raven's eyes widened upon seeing yet another dragon. However, this one was much different from those that she was used to.

Its body was entirely white with fluffy cloud-like wings. It had rabbit-like ears – the right one flopping down about halfway – that each contained two golden hoop earrings. Around its neck was a golden chain with a pink heart at the bottom with wings and a halo attached. It had rabbit-like paws, and it seemed as though it had fur on its body rather than scales. Its tail was fluffy, almost puffed out like a scared cat, and near the tip was a pink ribbon with a bow and a bell attached.

It seemed like some twisted looking rabbit taken out right from a story book. And Raven was certain that Starfire would determine it 'cute' almost immediately. Its sky blue eyes wavered as it looked at the duo.

Its jaws opened up, and a soft, melodic noise came out. It soothed Raven, though it seemed to only cause Zarathustra more pain. He continued to advance upon it, and the sight upon its back made Raven's heart lurch.

There, positioned on its back between its neck and its wings as if it belonged there was none other than Slade.

"Slade," Raven breathed, her violet orbs widening considerably.

"Did you miss me, Birdie?" he taunted.

"Not a chance," the half-demon snarled.

In a fit of rage, her dragon's jaws parted. A screech erupted out from it to show his agony before it turned into yet another melodic tune. This one seemed darker though, more mysterious and lower in pitch. The rabbit-like dragon flinched, its jaws closing almost immediately.

"Ayla, attack!" Slade commanded in a sharp voice.

The female dragon's eyes flickered up towards the sun. She closed her eyes, breathing in deeply. The sky got brighter and brighter until neither Zarathustra nor Raven could see any longer. Ayla's large hind paws collided heavily with the darkness dragon's left flank, sending him shooting to the right before she pounded down upon his back just behind the half-demon.

The dragon's wings snapped out helplessly to stop their free fall. Forcing his eyes open – though it hurt him to do so – the dragon spread out his body as much as he could, letting his limbs snap outwards. Darkness surrounded him, consuming all, shielding the sun's bright rays away from them.

Though the dark enchantress still couldn't see, she at least knew that her dragon could. There were muffled cries as the beings below struggled to see, though there was no light to reflect off of anything. The girl felt her dragon move forward sharply, and the scream from the light dragon told her that her dragon's fangs had sunk into her neck.

She felt something collide with her and her dragon and she was sent off of him yet again. She fell onto the ground, which surprisingly was only about a seven feet drop. She felt a weight land upon her. Hands were situated upon her shoulders, and she could feel another's hips against her own.

_Go ahead,_ she heard a voice say in her mind, and she immediately knew that it was Zarathustra.

Confusion took over her until she realized that it must be Beast Boy on top of her, and she felt her cheeks heat up. Was her dragon holding out this darkness just for this moment, or was it for both reasons?

She felt soft lips against her own, and she submitted cautiously to his lips. It was only a quick peck – soft and sweet – but it said it all. She felt the darkness slither away and she could see the sun peaking through in small shafts – the light dragon must be trying to break through Zarathustra's barrier of darkness.

Beast Boy was blushing – he was indeed an odd shade when he did so – and he scrambled off of her. Xenos scooped him up almost as soon as he stood up, drifting off towards the light dragon to assist the dark dragon. She stood up as well.

Zarathustra landed before her, crouching down so she could get on. Once she was on, he lifted himself into the air, heading back towards Ayla.

"You sneaky–" she started but her dragon cut her off.

"You both needed a little push," he answered, amused. "Xenos, out of the way." His voice turned demanding. "This is our battle. You fight down below."

The earth dragon seemed taken aback, but merely realized that he wouldn't do much to stop this creature. So instead they began their descent back towards the ground.

_What can I do? _she asked.

_You, my dear, shall assist me._

_Ah, I see. You want me to sit here and wait while you do all the work._

_Nay, that is not the case you see. For that is not what I aim for._

_No? How so?_

_Simple. I shall weaken the light dragon until you can take care of the rest. Then we'll see what we can do about this 'Slade' creature of yours._

There was amiable playfulness in how he worded it, but Raven could sense the seriousness in their situation. One wrong move and they were out for the count. She shuddered at the mere thought of it.

_Do not be afraid. Fear not these creatures, my dear._

She nodded slowly. By now all of the darkness had dissipated, but it was not glaringly bright like before. Obviously both of them were competing for dormancy.

As they drew near, both dragons' jaws opened. While Zarathustra released a ball of darkness, Alya let out a swirling mass of light energy. There was an explosion when the attacks collided, and Raven and her dragon flew through it easily, slashing out at the light dragon.

Though Zarathustra seemed to have an advantage – by having cruel talons, excessively large fangs and a ridiculously sharp spear-like tail – it was evenly matched. For both elements have their advantages and disadvantages to each other.

The dark dragon raked his talons down the light dragon's shoulder, which caused her to swing around quickly and kick him hard and square in the jaw with her hind legs. Her bell tinkled as her tail swayed back and forth, and she seemed unaffected by the gashes in her left shoulder which bled appallingly.

A snarl escaped Raven's dragon, and Alya merely sniffed nonchalantly, blasé to them. Shaking his massive head, Zarathustra propelled himself towards her. He clawed at her whilst she kicked him, trying to bite down on his unarmored spots, her tail barraging him wherever possible.

In a quick movement that startled the dark enchantress, Slade jumped off of the light dragon, landing upon Zarathustra's back in a smooth crouch. Standing up, he walked forward easily though the dark dragon jerked his body violently, trying to send him off. Upon seeing the threat, the girl immediately stood up, turning to her long-time enemy. She dropped into a fighting stance, her sword ready to attack.

He chuckled, pulling out a staff.

"Just try it, Birdie. Or we can get this over with easily – two down, eight more to go," he jeered.

"Your evil concoctions are going to lead you nowhere, Slade. No matter what happens, you _will _be taken down," she challenged.

He lunged forward, bringing the staff down heavily towards her head, which she deflected with her sword. Counterattacking quickly, she tried to slash his stomach but to no avail; he merely jumped backwards, landing expertly between two extremely sharp spikes. Just as she was about to rush forward and attack, Zarathustra's voice stopped her in her tracks.

_Allow him to attack first. Have you seen what happens to Robin when he tries to attack first? He gets knocked off his feet quickly. And _that _would not be good. So please, do not try anything hasty – learn from your opponent first before attacking._

_We've faced Slade plenty of times before! I know what he's like! And how would you even know anything about him? _she retorted.

_Your memories, of course. Now, if you do not wish to lose, I propose that you listen to what I say. I endeavor to facilitate you, you know, however from time to time you do not always attempt to work with me._

She reluctantly nodded, submitting to her dragon's wise words. It was pathetic to try and avoid what he was saying, for he was most certainly correct. Any wrong move and it would be game over.

So instead she stood patiently, eventually straightening up.

"Well, Slade, do you fear me? Is that why you do not try to defeat me? Because you're afraid of losing?" she taunted.

"We'll see who loses," he muttered darkly.

He threw himself at her, sending forth a volley of quick attacks which she managed to block except for one with hit her shoulder. When he went to whack her head, she threw up her left hand, intercepting the attack. Jabbing out with her sword, she managed to pierce through his arm fully, traveling through the bone successfully.

He held in his pain, jerking his staff away from her. She retracted her sword sharply, violently, letting the blood drip down. He growled, inspecting the wound for only a short second before he pushed the staff's tip into her stomach.

It winded her for a second before her eyes glowed white. He became encased in a black aura before she sent him flailing backwards, landing on one of Zarathustra's ivory spikes.

It pierced his leg, and he grunted as he grabbed onto his leg, yanking it free. He staggered to his feet, shaky and wobbly, off-balance due to the wound in his leg.

"Are you ready to give up now, Slade?" she hissed.

"Never," he growled.

He dropped the staff and punched her in the jaw before he punched her hard in the gut. She felt the breath be driven from her again and she flew back a bit, landing heavily on the saddle. She winced – that saddle was hard and hurt her back when she hit it.

_Get him off, _Zarathustra demanded sharply.

She nodded weakly, attempting to stand when he picked her up, his hand clamped around her neck, cutting off her oxygen.

"Seems like this is your last good bye," he muttered.

She clawed at his hand, trying to pry his fingers open to let her breathe. Instead he gripped her neck tighter. She felt her wind pipe being compressed and she choked, trying desperately to breath.

_Do not be afraid._

Zarathustra's voice was so soothing, so alluring that she had no choice but to agree silently. She knew that her being strangled was affecting her dragon too – there were ragged gasps coming from him now.

She couldn't believe that it was going to end this way though, her being strangled to death. It just didn't seem right to her.

What her dragon did though surprised her. He flung his body violently to the left before he flipped himself over onto his back by rolling to the right. Slade jerked around before he fell off of the dragon, releasing his hold on the dark enchantress, his hands scrabbling to try and grab onto Zarathustra.

Raven could feel herself falling, gasping for breath. It seemed to lovely just to be able to breathe again. She gulped it in greedily, not even seeming to care that she was falling quickly, plummeting towards the earth far below. She saw Slade's limbs flailing about before Ayla scooped him up. It was only then that she felt Zarathustra's reassuring grip on her coat of mail, easily halting her descent. He carefully placed her upon the saddle, drifting up to the light dragon.

In a swift motion he slashed her right flank open with his tail. Her screams filled the air as she struggled to stay afloat. It quickly ended when her dragon clawed at her left wing and she began to plummet towards the ground.

They chased after the falling duo easily. Zarathustra gripped Ayla's sides with his talons, holding her up. The female dragon wrenched her body around viciously, trying to break free from the male dragon's hold upon her.

Slade merely remained in her jaws, stunned that their free fall had stopped. He looked up to see Raven and Zarathustra and his gaze immediately hardened.

"Ayla, attack now!" he ordered.

She flung her head up, releasing her grip on Slade, sending him into the air. She twisted her neck around, opening her jaws and letting out a swirl of light energy in Zarathustra's face. He screeched, letting her drop again, clawing at his eyes with his front paws. Her attack had not only harmed him incredulously, but it had also momentarily blinded him.

By now Slade was falling back down, gravity pulling on him. Ayla looked up at him, and a sense of justice flooded her. She conjured up a cloud to support her, letting Slade fall down upon her back. He was stunned, but caught himself quickly at sat up.

He laughed, his laugh raspy now.

"You'll pay for this!" he screamed like a madman. "You're dead! You're all dead!"

Zarathustra's eyes flashed open upon hearing the man's raspy voice. His blood red eyes were angry, bitter. He let out a guttural roar, his wings flaring out. Darkness surrounded him, and he opened up his jaws to let out another battle cry.

_Zarathustra! Do not kill Slade! _Raven pleaded in her mind, hoping that her dragon would understand.

He did a nosedive at the duo below them, the darkness surrounding him and his Rider flaring out around them like flames. He rammed into Ayla, knocking Slade from her back as she was sent hurtling towards the ground. He followed her, grabbing the man with a back paw tightly.

He latched himself onto Ayla's underside, his free talons digging into her body. He picked up speed as quickly as he could, rage building within. She battered at him with her hind paws, but seemingly to no avail, for he never let go, nor did his grip on the light dragon or Slade lessen.

He leveled out just before they were about to hit the ground, slamming the female onto the earth, successfully killing off a fair deal of the other enemy below her large body. Her body convulsed with her pain as she struggled to try and stand. They circled around, coming back to Ayla. In her sky blue eyes there was pain, and remorse. She knew that what Slade had lured her in had led her to obliteration now.

Oh, how she longed to go back to that day when she was free. But that was long gone now. She would soon be free again. She looked up at Zarathustra, knowing that it was unavoidable.

He swung out his tail, and time seemed to slow. It sailed through the air towards its destination, the spear-like tip gleaming in the sunlight. Ayla smiled lightly at Zarathustra before the metal slashed through her neck, ripping it open. Her eyes dulled and her body grew lifeless – it slumped down to the ground, blood spilling out.

The remaining enemy did a double-take. They had never expected their strongest to fall to the enemy. They stared up in wonder at Zarathustra before they fled. Cheers broke out among the elves and the humans, and the dark dragon landed next to Ayla. He touched his muzzle to hers in a silent respect.

"It is a shame she had to die," he murmured. "She never chose this."

He held his right hind leg off of the ground, still clutching Slade tightly. The other dragons gathered around, as did the elves and the humans. Each dragon touched the lifeless light dragon before their Riders jumped off.

The elves and humans swarmed them, their cries of joy filling the air.

"The evil ones are gone!" some cried.

"Darkscales killed Lightscales!" a couple elves exclaimed.

Kachig approached Zarathustra and Raven calmly, touching two fingers to his lips. Raven did the same, and a soft smile graced his lips.

"We thank you dragon Riders for all of your help. You have not only defeated most of them, but you also scared them away by defeating Lightscales. It is only a shame it had to turn out this way," he murmured, a hint of sorrow in his voice. "Come, please, for a true victory shall take place! Afterwards, we would appreciate it deeply if you would stay with us so you would all properly train. I look forward to seeing you here for a good while. Please allow Quidel to take your _prisoner _for you."

Raven nodded slowly, and encased Slade in a black aura. Zarathustra released his grip on the man, letting him levitate over to his Rider, Kachig and Quidel. The half-demon released the darkness to only his ankles and wrists, shackling him so he couldn't try to attack or escape.

"If you are to take him, make sure that he is not killed. It would not seem fair," Raven murmured, eyeing the man carefully, who was now watching her.

"As you wish, Dragon Rider," Quidel answered softly, touching two fingers to his lips before he grabbed Slade and dragged him off.

"Now that that is settled, please, follow me, dragons and dragon Riders," he said.

He smiled, touching two fingers to his lips again – which Robin, Beast Boy, Cyborg, Raven and Starfire all successfully mimicked – before motioning them to follow him before he ran off.


	15. Astray

I do not claim Teen Titans, or anything to do with Dragon Riders. (Eragon, Eldest, et cetera)

I do own the six dragons: Zarathustra, Xenos, Laetitia, Hytimjir't, Aedh and Ayla.

**Dragon Riders? Recap: **In a bloody clash between elves, humans, dragons and their riders against ogres, dwarves and a surprising enemy, the dragon riders emerged victorious, slaying Ayla, the light dragon, and taking Slade prisoner. Beast Boy and Xenos finally managed to make it back in time for the battle of their lives.

But with the two main enemies seemingly harmless now, everything seems to be going back to normal. Or is it?

**Pronunciation: **Zarathustra: Zarr-uh-thust-trah (thust rhymes with thrust)

Xenos: Zee-noss

Laetitia: Lay-teet-tee-uh

Hytimjir't: High-tim-jurt

Aedh: Aid-h

Ayla: Eh-lah

* * *

A/N: After a two year absence, I am back. I understand that things are probably going to be different in this story, such as writing styles, and, of course, the ending, but I hope that everyone continues to enjoy my work.

Thank you to those of you who still follow me and my stories after so long.

* * *

_**Dragon Riders?**_

_Astray_

Heavy breathing filled the night air, breaking the quiet hush along with a steady 'drip, drip'. The scent of blood and death was everywhere; reeking, overpowering.

_What a terrible scent._

_I see the plan went over well._

A soft, throaty chuckle. _Easy for you to say._

_Would you prefer to be in my predicament? You can move freely now._

_Hah. That would be nice if I had the energy to even stand up. That just drained me of everything._

_You'd better get moving before they put their guard up. You can't hide forever. You only have the cover of night to do what needs to be done._

_Those dragons won't be able to know what's coming. This… _stench _is so overpowering that they wouldn't even be able to smell me, and you know I can cover my presence well enough to evade detection._

The dripping had slowly come to an end, and there was a gentle groan following. A body shifted, and there was a 'splash' as something stepped into blood.

_Look. You're getting up now, aren't you? Hurry up. I can't say I enjoy it here._

_Quiet. If you had to go through what I went through… _A snort. _Of course not. No, you save yourself and sacrifice me. You know, reviving something is terribly difficult._

_You managed._

Snorting laughter. _Because it was _me _I revived. I can only revive some things, and depending on what it is it takes more or less out of me. You know I won't be able to revive something for a while now, and if you die, then it's all over._

_Exactly why it was _you.

_Terrible. You are a horrible, sickly creature. And don't even think about sacrificing me again to do such a stupid plan ever again._

_Stupid plan? It was infiltration, and it worked perfectly. Have I not infiltrated?_

_You are held captive, are you not? Last time I checked, infiltration's when you do it of your own free will, not that you get captured and that's how you get in._

_As long as I'm in, I'm in. That's all that matters._

There was a gust of wind as the creature lurched itself to its feet, using its wings to help it up. It staggered a bit, trying to regain its balance, sloshing around through its own blood. Its eyes focused on something on the ground, and it made a noise that sounded like it was disappointed.

_Look at what happened. It broke. _Reaching down with its mouth, the creature picked up a chain with a figure attached. _I loved that, and that… _thing _broke it. _The creature hissed.

_We can fix it easily once you come here._

A jingle as the creature flicked its tail. _This is your fault, you know. So you better be able to fix it._

_Of course. _A laughing, mocking tone.

_Then don't say it that way, _growled the creature.

_When will he realize his true potential?_

_He, who? You mean… my counterpart? Heh. Who knows. He probably doesn't know anything about it himself, and therefore I cannot even begin to imagine when. It's better that he doesn't know. We're better off with the advantage here. Don't push your luck._

_That's why I want to know. I want us to be prepared for that time._

_You wanted us to be prepared for this, and look at what happened. I'm sloshing around in my own… blood. It's disgusting and revolting. _

The creature shook a paw, shaking blood off of it before continuing forward. Its body lurched with each step, as if it was going to keel over at any moment. Its unsteadiness, however, was gradually wearing off the more it walked.

_Can you fly?_

_Give me a moment to get used to it. I've never had to revive myself before. It was always something else. Never me._

Muscles bunching, it flapped its wings a couple of times, bringing up a wind around it. Droplets of blood swirled around the creature. It shook its head, and with a soft growl, it leaped into the air, wings beating furiously to catch the wind. It managed to stay airborne for a few seconds before dropping down, staggering to keep its balance.

_Hah… hah… hah… hehehe… I feel good. _Panting.

_Good. Come to me. I need you._

_Got it._

* * *

The room was bustling with joy, and sweet, gay music filled the air. It was bright and jolly inside, and a hearty, welcoming feeling enveloped the entire room. The room itself was large, with big, stained glass windows and rows upon rows of wooden benches and tables. Not a square inch was left unfilled.

"It's so good to know that everything's finally over!" chirped Laetitia excitedly, her body coiling and uncoiling as she jumped around the room.

"Calm down," Aedh ordered, glaring at her. "You're going to break something. Stop jumping."

The dragon bared his teeth and growled at her, his tail twitching with irritation.

"Let her enjoy it while she can," Zarathustra chuckled, lying in the corner with his tail brought up beside him. "It's not like we can have a big celebration like this all the time."

"Then what are you doing in the corner? That doesn't look like you're celebrating. Antisocial, more like," Laetitia said excitedly, bounding over to him.

She prodded the large dragon with a paw. He turned his head away, giving a soft snort in warning, but that didn't stop her. She backed up, bunched up and leaped on him, rolling him over.

"Get off me," he growled, kicking her off and getting up onto his feet. "Not everyone is as… simple-minded as you are."

"That was mean!" she cried, smacking him with her tail, only to have Aedh chuckle.

The fire dragon smirked. "Not at all uncalled for, however."

"Ugh. You both are so mean!" she snapped before bouncing away from them.

"You guys should really try this stuff," Hytimjir't spoke, dropping a barrel from her jaws. "It's delicious, actually. Really good."

Zarathustra tilted his head at her, giving her an odd look. "Do you… know what you're drinking?"

"No, but it's good."

"That's alcohol," Aedh said, chuckling. "And if you feel it tomorrow, don't blame us for not warning you."

"Well, _everyone's _drinking it!" The water dragon motioned to the elves and humans, each of whom had a wooden beer stein. Even the five teen heroes had one for themselves.

"Underage drinking," Xenos said with a chuckle. "Let them enjoy it. They'll learn."

"T-terrible," Aedh stuttered, looking away. "I can't believe Robin would lower himself to such… levels."

"I never thought I'd see Raven doing such an irresponsible thing, either," Zarathustra murmured. "I am ashamed."

"Join us," Hytimjir't exclaimed merrily. "You're all wusses."

"A wuss! Unforgivable!" roared Aedh. "Give me one."

He snatched a barrel hastily and tilted his head backwards, chugging the liquid. Finished, he dropped the barrel and grunted.

"Happy now?"

"Of course," the water dragon said with a smile, pushing a barrel over to Zarathustra.

The dark dragon groaned before picking the barrel up in his jaws, swallowing. "That did nothing for me."

"Why would it?" snorted Xenos. "What a small amount! That's bound to do nothing for you, considering your size."

"Zarathustra is _not _fat," Laetitia squealed, bouncing over. "He's just husky."

"Well, I can see someone who had a bit too much to drink," Aedh said. "And here I thought she was always that way."

He gulped down yet another bucket. The stuff was starting to grow on him, and hey, it tasted good.

"Ah, I know I'm going to feel this in the morning, I just _know _it," he mumbled. "Alcohol is a depressant, and here I am drinking it."

"It wasn't… all… that bad… you know…" Zarathustra answered, his eyes shifting from another bucket back to Aedh consistently. "Well… maybe another won't… hurt…"

* * *

"I cannot believe that a Dragon Rider would request to keep their enemy safe," an elf murmured to another in elfin language. "It just… I do not understand the meaning behind it. Wouldn't it be best to just kill him?"

"You shouldn't question things like that. It wasn't your choice to make, although I voice your opinions," the other replied. "And then we get stuck here having to guard him while the rest of them get to celebrate."

"I do not see how that is particularly fair," the first one continued. "And our shift still continues for a while." He sighed. "At least it is not like he's trying to break out or anything, although he could always change in an instant."

Slade sat hunched in the corner of his cell, his wrists and ankles shackled together. He glanced up at the two elves guarding his cell, and muttered something incoherent. Of course the elves would talk in a language he couldn't even begin to understand. He had hoped they wouldn't though. After all, they could always reveal something important to him.

"Humans are so unpredictable. If it was me, I would have had him killed already. He could turn on us at any moment, like you said, although I don't see how. He's bound by magic and by physical bindings, and he has no allies to help him escape. Escape is impossible," the second one muttered.

"Exactly. I do not see why we have to guard him in that case. I trust our magic. It will not break that easily. Even a skilled mage would stand no chance against that binding spell."

The elf shifted, glancing back at Slade, who was looking at the ground at that time. He grunted, shifting his weapon before standing back in his position.

"Not like anything would be able to break in here undetected, anyways. Not a dragon, not a mage," the first once said with a smile in his voice, "and those are the only ones that would even be able to stand a chance against us and the binding spell."

_Where are you? I am tired of waiting here for you. Do you know how uncomfortable it is? I can't even understand a word that the guards are saying. If you were here, you could translate for me._

_I'm coming. Do you want me to avoid detection or not? If so, leave me be. I will be there soon._

_Hurry up._

Slade sighed, looking back up at the elves. He heard a grunt coming from down the hallway, and his attention immediately shifted down there, as did the guards.

"Did you hear that?" the second one asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll go check it out," he said before walking down the hallway.

Slade smirked. He knew what was going on. There was tapping coming back down the hallway before the guard elf appeared again.

"It was just-" he began before a sword pierced through his heart.

He gurgled, blood spilling from his mouth before he drew limp. The first elf stared in shock as another elf shook the elf from his blade, blood dripping from it. The elf smirked at the other guard before advancing towards him.

"B-brother, what are you doing? Are you possessed?" the elf questioned shakily, readying his weapon. "I do not wish to harm you. Please, brother, think of what you are doing and step down."

The other elf simply smiled wider at the other one, his eyes flashing. Slade watched the scene with humour. He hadn't expected Ayla to work so efficiently.

_Good work._

_Naturally._

The elf lunged at the guard, a crazy, wicked smile playing upon his lips. His tongue snaked out, licking them. The guard caught the attack with his own sword before countering. The sound of swords crashing flooded the air and sparks flew.

It didn't take long, however, for the elf to stab the guard, killing him. He wiped at a gash on his cheek, licking the blood from his finger. He turned to Slade and grinned, tilting his head to the side before advancing towards the cell. His left hand reached out, touching the bars before he murmured something.

The gate swung open and he entered, still talking. Slade felt the bindings gently wearing away until all that remained were his shackles. The elf took no time in ridding him of those, however, swinging his sword upon them. With a crash they broke off and the elf yanked him violently upwards by the arm.

"We are leaving now," the elf said in English, pulling the man along behind him.

He practically dragged him as he tried to run along the corridors. The torches flickered as they passed, and that hallways were covered in blood and the elves that had been slain. He definitely had not expected anything like this, let alone a possession.

When they finally emerged from the tunnels, the elf slumped to the ground with a groan, almost dragging Slade down with him on the bridge. There was a cry as white, fluffy wings flapped up into view, revealing Ayla. There was a soft smile upon her face.

"Ready to go?" she asked.

"I hadn't expected you to possess an elf," he said, reaching out to her.

She moved close enough for him to grab onto her neck and swing onto her back. In a swift motion, she grabbed the elf in her jaws, crushing him completely before dropping him back down on the bridge in a puddle of blood.

"He wasn't all that hard to get into, really. I just attacked his mind and forced my own consciousness in there, and I practically got in there without any resistance," she commented, lifting herself higher quickly.

"Why not keep him then? Wouldn't he have proved useful for other things?" he asked.

"No. It was best to kill him rather than carry him off. Someone would have noticed that too quickly."

Her bell jingled in the wind as they flew above the area. Slade looked down upon the place with disgust.

"My necklace," Ayla muttered, lifting up a paw close enough to the man for him to grab her necklace.

He reached down and grabbed the chain. He turned it over in his hand, eyeing the damage.

"It can be fixed," he said.

"When? I want it now."

"Well, that's just not possible. You'll have to wait until we get back, so the sooner you get there, the sooner you can have it back."

She shook her massive head and continued their flight.

* * *

"You're right. Zarathustra is a bit… husky," Aedh drawled, looking at the dark dragon.

"And-and this lighting, y'know, it just-just… doesn't help with your… umm… y'know… well, it doesn't help you," Laetitia slurred. "It makes ya look... even… bigger, get what I'm sayin'?"

"I feel a bit… big… y'know. I just… just don't know what to do about it, yeah. Maybe I sh-should try a… _diet_. Don'tcha think? Maybe it'll help me get… slimmer," Zarathustra commented.

"Yeah, you know, you reeeeally need to cut back on those deer. They just don't help. A vege-vege-vege… ahhh… what's the word? Veggie… ughh… well, whatever BB's on, yathink?" Xenos added.

"Oh-oh-oh, you mean… vegetarian?" Hytimjir't offered.

"Nahh, BB's not a vegetari-whatchacallit. He's way to… you know… cool for that. He's more hardcore," the grass dragon countered. "He don't eat no food that's even _made _from… things. He only eats… veggies and… tofu."

"Ahh yeah. A vegan." Laetitia looked oddly pleased with herself.

"Yeah! That's whatcha call it, I think…"

"Y-you really think…hic…a vegan…hic…diet is gonna help me?" Zarathustra asked.

"Mah-maybe you should… y'know… try that… Jenny Craig diet, that's it. Lose 20 pounds for $20," Laetitia continued.

"Don'tcha think Jenny Craig's too underrated? I mean, come on, Weight Watchers is the way to go now," Hytimjir't muttered.

"Nah, anorexia's where it's at now-a-days, know what I mean?"

"Stu-stupid. No one likes an anorexic. Bulimia's what all the… celebrities do," Aedh drawled. "Muhbay ya should try that."

"That ain't gonna help ya, honey. Those are so _unhealthy_. Wanna be healthy but lose the weight? Eat Star's cooking," exclaimed Hytimjir't.

"Ewwwww. That stuff is so… yucky. I ain't ever… never eating that nonsense ever again," Zarathustra growled. "That's just the same as bulimia, ya get what I'm sayin'? And I don't wanna go through an eating disorder to get the perfect body."

He snatched a barrel and chugged it down.

"Maybe, maybe I should… just… I don't know…"

"Have Slimfast for the rest of your life?"

"HAHAHAHAHA! That stuff… is delicious," Zarathustra cried.

"…Ya mean… ya've had that before?" said an incredulous Aedh.

"Well, that stuff's in the Tower, don'tcha know? Wonder whose it is…"

"Oh, oh, I know who drinks dat," Laetitia exclaimed, "that's Cy's! He buys it all da time when he shops."

"That doesn't mean it's his, stu-pid," Xenos muttered, poking her with a paw before falling over. "Wee, I fell down!"

The dragon then began to roll about the ground, thrashing his wings. He let out a joyous cry before he overturned a table with some elves sitting around it.

"Oops, hehe, so-sorry about… y'know… didn't meanta knock ya guys over. Ya'll are coo-cool, yeah?"

"What were you doing on the ground anyways?" inquired a not-too-pleased elf whose beverage had been dumped all over him.

"I…hic…fell over!" The dragon's roaring laughter pursued.

"A first time," said another elf. "He had a little… much to drink. Not surprising, really."

He smiled at the dragon whereas the other continued to glare at him.

"He still knocked us over," the first one muttered.

"Ah, lighten up!" The elf slapped the other one on the back. "Let them enjoy their merry time." He lifted up his stein. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" the dragons chorused, each picking up another barrel.

Robin looked over at the five dragons, shaking his head but smiling. "At least we know how to control ourselves, right, guys?"

"Uh… I wouldn't agree with you on that, Robin," Raven said.

The other three Titans ignored them.

"This funny Earth substance is most delightful! I must be sure to bring some home with us!"

"It's so good," Beast Boy said happily.

"You know, I don't care about me drinking it," Cyborg began, "but ya'll are too young to be drinking this stuff! I can't believe you guys."

"…Great. So we've got eight drunks out of the ten of us. That's… helpful to know," Robin muttered almost disdainfully. "Great to know you guys know how to control yourselves."

A door slammed open and an elf rushed in, hurrying over to the King and Queen. He spoke hurriedly to them in the elfin tongue, his eyes wide and worried. The King stood up quickly, slamming his hands down on the table before him to get everyone's attention.

"It seems that while we were enjoying ourselves, we were attacked," he said in English.

The Queen rose up to join him. "Sixteen of us were killed, and the prisoner has… _escaped._"

Gasps filled the room, and Robin narrowed his gaze, gripping tightly onto the stein in front of him.

"Slade…" he hissed, his voice filled with anger and malice.

Without waiting for anymore, the boy wonder stood up, turned and left the room. Raven looked at the other three Titans, who were quite shocked by the news as well. They hadn't noticed Robin's sudden exit, and were instead focused entirely on the King and Queen.

The empath followed the leader outside of the room and found him standing in the hallway, a fist and his arm against the wall, his head hanging. His entire body was shaking from rage and hatred.

"Robin…"

"Why? Why is that no matter how close we get, no matter what we do… why?" he hissed, gritting his teeth. "I thought for sure, this time, we finally… finally… finally we had him. How could this happen?"

He turned and punched the wall, and Raven placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Robin," she spoke softly, "we'll get him. This is what always happens."

"That's why. We had him the best we could and we let him slip through our fingers. How could we… How could we let this happen?"

He shook his head, his mask narrowing even more.

"Everything we did… it was all for nothing now. He was obviously the one who led the attack. We let the _ringleader _go, and it's all just going to happen again. All of the sacrifices… everyone who we… _killed_… it's all going to waste. We're going to have to go through it again. I don't believe it."

"We'll get him again," she continued, her voice level. "We always do. And if you break down like this… how are we supposed to do anything? You're our leader, Robin."

He sighed, straightening up. His body slowly stopped shaking, losing its tension. His fist unraveled and he turned to face her, placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

"You're right. That's why this time, for sure, there will be _no _escape for him. Together, we can get him again."

"Not much that we can do right now though…"

"No. We'll wait until we can get more info on it. We need to know more. Slade's different this time around, and we have to be ready. Who knows where he's hiding, or when he's going to show himself again. We need to prepare ourselves so that when we get him, there's no way that he's going to escape again. Even…" He stopped, taking in a deep breath. "Even if it means killing him."


End file.
